Simcoe was born in Northamptonshire and educated at Oxford. He joined the British army in 1771, and from 1771-81 commanded the Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist corps in America. After the Loyalist influx had led to the creation of a separate province of Upper Canada in 1791, Simcoe was named its first lieutenant-governor. During his five years of office the province's basically British and monarchial character and institutions took shape. After he left Canada in 1796 he held a succession of military and colonial offices, and died in Exeter shortly after being appointed commander-in-chief for India.