On This Day

September 19, 1841

Death of Charles Poulett Thomson, President of the Board of Trade under Lord Melbourne

Death of Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham. Whig MP for Dover 1826-32 and Manchester 1832-39. Thomson joined Earl Grey’s government in 1830 as Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy. Under Lord Melbourne he was promoted to President of the Board of Trade in 1834 and again 1835-39. In 1839 Thomson succeeded the Earl of Durham as Governor General of Canada. As Governor, he oversaw the implementation of the Union Act of 1840 which united Upper and Lower Canada as one province. He died in Kingston, the new capital, after less than two years in office.