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toronto Biographies John Graves Simcoe As Upper Canada's first Lt. Governor, Simcoe established a set of practices that his successors were to follow for 30 years. He anglicized names, created and planned towns, and rewarded his peers with land and positions that kept them in power until the rebellions of 1837. Simcoe distrusted democracy but believed in Canada and its potential if governed by an aristocracy. His imperious behaviour and impractical plans at times set him against the colony, and he spent most of his appointment at loggerheads with Lord Dorchester, the Gov. of Canada, but he was also known to be just, brave and energetic. His father commanded the Pembroke and fought with Gen. Wolfe. From an early age the son was interested in the military and although he attended Oxford, he did not graduate. At 19 he became an ensign with the 35th Regiment and saw duty in the colonial war. He earned a reputation as an able commander and was promoted to Lt. Col. In 1777 he assumed command of the elite Queen's Rangers, a specialist militia trained on the Canadian frontier. The Regiment was disbanded in 1783 at the end of the war and many of its troops settled permanently in New Brunswick and Upper Canada. Simcoe returned to England where he met and married Elizabeth Gwilliam. For the next 10 years he focussed on building a political career and sought the position of ambassador to the USA, a country he hated, and wished to restore to Britain. Instead he was offered the position of Lt. Gov. which he held for 5 years.
Visit Upper Canada History's Historical Narrative of Simcoe
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