Head, Sir Edmund National Historic Person

Ottawa, Ontario
Portrait of Sir Edmund Head (© Courtesy House of Commons, Speaker's Office | Avec la permission de la Chambre des Communes, Bureau du Président)
Portrait
(© Courtesy House of Commons, Speaker's Office | Avec la permission de la Chambre des Communes, Bureau du Président)
Address : Ottawa, Ontario

Recognition Statute: Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date: 1974-05-18
Life Date: 1805 to 1868

Other Name(s):
  • Head, Sir Edmund  (Designation Name)

Importance: First civilian Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, Governor General of British North America (1854-61)

Plaque(s)


Approved Inscription:  

In 1848 Sir Edmund Walker Head was the first civilian appointed lieutenant governor of New Brunswick and presided over the introduction of responsible government to the colony. He ably administered New Brunswick affairs until he became governor general of British North America in 1854. In this post he influenced Queen Victoria's choice of Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada. Following his appointment as governor general he became a strong champion of confederation, a cause which he had been advocating for some years. He returned to his native England in 1861.