John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, known as "Radical Jack", ( born April 12, 1792 in London, † July 28, 1840 in Cowes ), was a British statesman of the Whig party, which the United Kingdom on the Congress of Vienna of 1814/1815 represented.
Life
John George Lambton Durham was born on 12 April 1792 in London and attended Eton College in Eton. 1813 Durham was a member of the lower house, where he was a big proponent of the reform of the electoral process of the members of parliament. In 1828 he moved into the House of Lords. As State Councilor and Lord Privy Seal, the activity he led from 1830-1833 from, he worked under his father, Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, and was commissioned by this with other members of parliament from 1832 to edit the draft reform bill and push through. The Reform Bills should expand inter alia, the right to vote in the UK. Because Durham is dedicated especially true for this, he was awarded by the king in 1833 the title of Count. In the same year he stated, however, in protest against the actions of his government in Ireland from his office. From 1835-1837 he was British Ambassador in Russia.
But in 1838 he was appointed Governor General of British North America. Since Canada was then ruled part of the United Kingdom and the other part of France, ruled tensions between the two colonies. After five months he resigned because of sharp criticism from the UK down to his behavior. Nevertheless Durham wrote his " Report on the affairs of British North America" (1839 ), in which he proposed to unite the entire colony Canada and to provide an autonomous government. These local governments should be distributed to all the smaller provinces, but the overlordship remained with the British and French. The union of Canada pursuant to Durham's plans took place in 1867 with the British North American contract, as this had been dead for more than 20 years. This he developed concept of colonial self-government under British suzerainty was later in a slightly different form the basis of the British Commonwealth.
According to Jürgen Osterhammel is the Durham Report, " one of the most important documents of the global constitutional history. He established the principle of the balance of interests between settlers and the imperial metropolis in the case of versatile democratic institutions. "
John George Lambton Durham died on 28 July 1840 in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.