Governors and Settlers: Images of Authority in the British Colonies, 1820-60 (Cambridge Commonwealth Series)

In 19th century settler colonies such as Upper Canada, New South Wales and New Zealand, governors not only administered, they stood at the head of colonial society and ordered the festivities and ceremonies around which colonial life centred. Governors were also expected to be repositories of political wisdom and constitutional lore. In addition, they were popularly credited with responsibility for prosperity, education and culture. So much prominence brought criticism as well. Governors were almost always burned in effigy and were frequently the target of scurrilous and libellous comment in their colony. They were transfigured as ideal rulers and disfigured as the embodiments of tyranny and personal vices. They played the symbolic roles of hero and sacrificial victim in the emerging settler societies. This is an exploration of the public and private beliefs of governors such as Sir Thomas Brisbane, Sir John Colborne, Sir George Grey and Lord Elgin as they struggled to survive in colonial cultures which both defied and vilified their personal qualities. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Governors and Colonial Political Culture....Pages 1-10 The Theoretical Structure of Authority: British and Colonial Constitutional Writers....Pages 11-29 Ceremonies: The Visible Structure of Authority....Pages 30-70 Brisbane and the Ideal of Personal Government....Pages 71-82 Darling and Bourke....Pages 83-97 Contemporary Reflections upon Personal Government....Pages 98-112 The Hero in Upper Canada: Sir John Colborne....Pages 113-136 The Dispute Between Colborne and Mackenzie on the Nature of Politics....Pages 137-155 Public Ideas and Private Virtues in the Governorship of Sir George Gipps....Pages 156-185 Metcalfe and Images of Authority in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Canada....Pages 186-212 A Triptych of New Zealand Governors: Fitzroy, Grey and Browne....Pages 213-237 Elgin: The Governor as the Body Politic....Pages 238-258 Back Matter....Pages 259-331 In nineteenth-century settler colonies such as Upper Canada, New South Wales and New Zealand, governors not only administered, they stood at the head of colonial society and ordered the festivities and ceremonies around which colonial life centred. Governors were expected to be repositories of political wisdom and constitutional lore. Governors and Settlers explores the public and private beliefs of governors such as Sir Thomas Brisbane, Sir John Colborne, Sir George Grey and Lord Elgin as they struggled to survive in colonial cultures which both deified and vilified their personal qualities. Mark Francis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 310-322) And Index.