Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer, GCB

(24 May 1775 23 February 1850) was a British military officer
and colonial administrator.

Contents
1 Napoleonic Wars
2 North American administration
3 Return to England
4 Family
5 External links
6 References

Napoleonic Wars Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron

Aylmer
He was gazetted ensign in 1787, lieutenant in 1791 and major in
1800, after being held in a French prison for six months in 1798. His career continued as colonel in 1810,
being aide-de-camp to the King between 1810 and 1812 and then major-general in 1813. He was present
at most of the battles in the Peninsular War.

In 1814, following service in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, he was appointed
adjutant general of British forces in Ireland, where he remained until 1823.

North American administration

After reaching the position of lieutenant-general in 1825, he was, in 1830, appointed commander of
British military forces in North America as well as Governor General of British North America and
Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada.

Lord Aylmer had no previous experience as a civil administrator and no political experience. He was unable
to pacify the growing demands in Lower Canada for responsible government and, in 1834, the radical
Assembly of Lower Canada passed 92 resolutions of grievance including a demand that Aylmer be recalled.
Lord Aylmer exacerbated ethnic tensions in Lower Canada by favouring the English over the French. The
deterioration of the situation led to his recall in 1835.[1] His administration may have been a contributing
factor to the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837.

Return to England
Returning to England, Aylmer was promoted to the rank of general in 1845 but he never obtained a
British peerage (his dignity was in the Irish peerage), or another administrative post.

He died at 15 Eaton Square, Belgravia on 23 February 1850, and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.
Aylmer's sister Rose Aylmer was the inspiration behind the poem of that name by Walter Savage Landor.
Aylmer's sister Rose Aylmer was the inspiration behind the poem of that name by Walter Savage Landor.

Family
General the Right Honourable Matthew Whitworth, 5th Lord Aylmer,
G.C.B., married Louisa Anne Call, daughter of Sir John Call, Bart. on 4
August 1801. When her husband was appointed in 1830 to
administer the government of Canada, as Governor-General, from
February 1831 to August 1835, the couple entertained at the Castle
of St. Louis, Quebec. During the cholera epidemic of 1831-32, she
was interested in the relief of the sufferers. Since she was interested
in education, she regularly visited and bestowed prizes in the schools.
She served as the patroness of the Societe d'Education sous la
direction des dames lie Quebec. She died on 13 August 1862.[2]

External links
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.
biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3723)

Lady Louisa Anne Aylmer References

1. Miller, Carman (2010). A Knight in Politics: A Biography of Sir Frederick Borden. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP.
p.166. ISBN978-0-7735-3730-9.
2. Morgan, Henry James Types of Canadian women and of women who are or have been connected with Canada:
(Toronto, 1903) [1] (https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft)

Works cited

Obituary, The Times, 26 February 1850

Military offices
Colonel of the
Precededby Succeededby
56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot
Sir John Murray Sir Hudson Lowe
18271832
Colonel of the
Precededby Succeededby
18th (The Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot
The Earl of Donoughmore Sir John Forster FitzGerald
18321850
Government offices
Governor General of British North
Precededby Succeededby
America
Sir James Kempt The Earl of Gosford
18301835
Peerage of Ireland
Precededby Baron Aylmer Succeededby
Henry Aylmer 17851850 Frederick Aylmer
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew_Whitworth-
Aylmer,_5th_Baron_Aylmer&oldid=755940739"

Categories: 1775 births 1850 deaths 18th-century English people 19th-century English people
British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Governors of British North America
Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath British Army generals
Coldstream Guards officers Burials at West Norwood Cemetery English people of Irish descent
56th Regiment of Foot officers

This page was last modified on 21 December 2016, at 01:24.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.