John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe (February 25, 1752 – October 26, 1806) was the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (modern-day southern Ontario plus the shoreline of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior) from 1791-1796. He founded York (now Toronto) and was instrumental in introducing British institutions such as the courts, trial by jury, English common law, freehold land tenure, and for abolishing slavery in Upper Canada long before it was abolished in the British Empire as a whole (it had disappeared from Upper Canada by 1810, but wasn't abolished throughout the Empire until 1834).

Legacy

The town of Simcoe in southwestern Ontario and Simcoe County to the west and north of Lake Simcoe are named for him (Lake Simcoe itself was named by John Graves Simcoe for his father). A provincial holiday held on the first Monday in August is known as Simcoe Day in Toronto http://www.toronto.com/feature/491. Simcoe's regiment still exists as the Queen's York Rangers, an armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Forces reserves.

Related Topics:
Simcoe - Simcoe County - Lake Simcoe - Simcoe Day - Queen's York Rangers - Canadian Forces

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