Sir James Henry Craig

Career Highlights

Governor general of the Canadas and administrator of Lower Canada from 1807 to 1811, Craig tried to influence the elections of 1809 and 1810, imprisoning without trial leaders of the Parti canadien in March 1810 in what has been called a "reign of terror."

Craig, his senior administrators and leading British merchants advocated a variety of ways to eradicate what they viewed as the menaces of democracy and French Canadian nationalism, suggesting union of the Canadas and creation of English counties in the Townships or replacing the Assembly by a primarily British and aristocratic council, abolishing the seigneurial regime, and encouraging immigration from Great Britain and the United States, church submission to royal prerogative and control of education. Thus they heightened French Canadian nationalism.

Under the threat of war between England and the US, Craig strengthened ties with Indigenous peoples and reinforced the fortifications of Quebec City and the surrounding district.