SIMCOE, JOHN GRAVES

born Feb. 25, 1752, Cotterstock, Northamptonshire, Eng. died Oct. 26, 1806, Exeter, Devonshire British soldier and statesman who became the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario). Simcoe entered the British army as an ensign in 1771. He served during the U.S. War of Independence (177583) and was promoted to captain in 1775. In 177781 he commanded the newly formed Queen's Rangers and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1778. Taken prisoner in 1779, he was subsequently released and, in 1781, invalided back to England, where he settled on his country estate. Simcoe entered politics as member of Parliament for St. Mawes, Cornwall, in 1790. After passage of the Constitutional Act of 1791, which gave representative government to Canada, he was appointed lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. As lieutenant governor, he encouraged immigration and agriculture and supported defense and road building. He was made a major general in 1794. Simcoe left Canada in 1796. He served briefly as governor and commander in chief of Santo Domingo (Hispaniola; now the Dominican Republic) in 1797 and was promoted to lieutenant general. Back in England he took command at Plymouth in 1801, when a French invasion of England was expected. He was appointed commander in chief in India in 1806, but he fell ill on his way there; he returned to England, where he died.