List of lieutenant governors of Ontario facts for kids
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is a very important person in the Canadian province of Ontario. They represent the King or Queen of Canada in Ontario. Think of them as the King's or Queen's personal representative in the province. This job started in 1867 when Ontario became a province as part of Canada's Confederation.
Before 1867, the area that is now Ontario was called Upper Canada. It had its own leader called the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. These leaders were usually British officers or administrators chosen by the British government. They managed the colony from 1791 to 1841. Before 1791, this land was part of the old Province of Quebec.
In 1841, Upper Canada and Lower Canada joined together to form the new Province of Canada. This new province had one Governor General and one Parliament. Upper Canada became known as Canada West, but it didn't have its own separate government or Lieutenant Governor anymore. It was just a part of the larger Province of Canada.
The first Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Sir Henry William Stisted, was the last British person to hold this kind of role in the area. After 1868, only Canadians were chosen for the job of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
Leaders of Upper Canada (1791–1841)
This table shows the people who were in charge of Upper Canada before it became part of the larger Province of Canada. They were called Lieutenant Governors or Administrators.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Born–Died) |
Time in Office | Monarch Reign |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Started | Ended | ||||
| 1 |  |
John Graves Simcoe (1752–1806) |
1791 | 1798 | George III (1760–1820) |
| – |  |
Peter Russell (1733–1808) Administrator |
1796 | 1799 | |
| 2 | Peter Hunter (1746–1805) |
1799 | 1805 | ||
| – | Alexander Grant (1734–1813) Administrator |
1805 | 1806 | ||
| 3 |  |
Francis Gore (1769–1852) |
1806 | 1817 | |
| – | -2.png) |
Sir Isaac Brock KB (1769–1812) Acting |
1811 | 1812 | |
| – |  |
Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe 1st Baronet (1763–1851) Acting |
1812 | 1813 | |
| – | Sir Francis de Rottenburg Baron of Rottenburg (1757–1832) Acting |
1813 | 1813 | ||
| – |  |
Sir Gordon Drummond (1772–1854) Acting |
1813 | 1814 | |
| – |  |
Sir George Murray GCB, GCH (1772–1846) Acting |
1815 | 1815 | |
| – |  |
Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson KCB, GCH (1763–1852) Acting |
1815 | 1815 | |
| – |  |
Samuel Smith (1756–1826) Administrator |
1817 | 1818 | |
| 4 |  |
Sir Peregrine Maitland KCB, GCH (1777–1854) |
1818 | 1828 | |
| George IV (1820–1830) |
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| 5 |  |
Sir John Colborne GCB, GCMG (1778–1863) |
1828 | 1836 | |
| William IV (1830–1837) |
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| 6 |  |
Sir Francis Bond Head KCH (1778–1863) |
1836 | 1838 | |
| Victoria (1837–1901) |
|||||
| 7 |  |
Sir George Arthur KCH (1778–1863) |
1838 | 1839 | |
| 8 |  |
Charles Poulett Thomson 1st Baron Sydenham , PC (1799–1841) |
1839 | 1841 | |
Lieutenant Governors of Ontario (1867–Present)
This table lists all the people who have served as the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario since the province was created in 1867. You'll see who they were, when they served, and who was the King or Queen of Canada at the time. You'll also see who was the Premier (the head of the provincial government) during their time in office.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Born–Died) |
Time in Office | Monarch Reign |
Premier Tenure |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Started | Ended | |||||
| 1 |  |
Henry William Stisted CB (1817–1875) |
1 July 1867 |
14 July 1868 |
Victoria (1837–1901) |
John Sandfield Macdonald (1867–1871) |
| 2 |  |
William Pearce Howland PC (1811–1907) |
15 July 1868 |
11 November 1873 |
||
| Edward Blake (1871–1872) |
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| Sir Oliver Mowat (1872–1896) |
||||||
| 3 |  |
John Willoughby Crawford QC (1817–1875) |
12 November 1873 |
13 May 1875 |
||
| – |  |
Sir William Buell Richards PC (1815–1889) Administrator |
13 May 1875 |
18 May 1875 |
||
| 4 |  |
Donald Alexander Macdonald PC (1817–1896) |
18 May 1875 |
30 June 1880 |
||
| 5 |  |
John Beverley Robinson (1821–1896) |
1 July 1880 |
31 May 1887 |
||
| 6 |  |
Sir Alexander Campbell PC, KCMG, QC (1822–1892) |
1 June 1887 |
24 May 1892 |
||
| – |  |
John Hawkins Hagarty (1816–1900) Administrator |
24 May 1892 |
30 May 1892 |
||
| 7 |  |
George Airey Kirkpatrick PC, QC (1841–1899) |
30 May 1892 |
7 November 1896 |
||
| Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1896–1899) |
||||||
| – |  |
Sir Casimir Gzowski KCMG (1813–1898) Administrator |
{7 November 1896 |
18 November 1897 |
||
| 8 | .jpg) |
Sir Oliver Mowat PC, GCMG, QC (1820–1903) |
18 November 1897 |
19 April 1903 |
||
| Sir George William Ross (1899–1905) |
||||||
| Edward VII (1901–1910) |
||||||
| – |  |
Sir Charles Moss (1840–1912) Administrator |
19 April 1903 |
21 April 1903 |
||
| 9 |  |
Sir William Mortimer Clark KCMG, KC (1836–1915) |
21 April 1903 |
21 September 1908 |
||
| Sir James Whitney (1905–1914) |
||||||
| 10 | .jpg) |
Sir John Morison Gibson KCMG, KC (1842–1929) |
21 September 1908 |
26 September 1914 |
||
| George V (1910–1936) |
||||||
| 11 |  |
Sir John Strathearn Hendrie KCMG, CVO (1857–1923) |
26 September 1914 |
20 November 1919 |
Sir William Howard Hearst (1914–1919) |
|
| Ernest Charles Drury (1919–1923) |
||||||
| 12 |  |
Lionel Herbert Clarke (1859–1921) |
20 November 1919 |
29 August 1921 |
||
| – |  |
Sir William Ralph Meredith QC (1840–1923) Administrator |
29 August 1921 |
10 September 1921 |
||
| 13 |  |
Henry Cockshutt (1868–1944) |
10 September 1921 |
12 January 1927 |
||
| Howard Ferguson (1923–1930) |
||||||
| 14 |  |
William Donald Ross (1869–1947) |
12 January 1927 |
25 October 1931 |
||
| George Stewart Henry (1930–1934) |
||||||
| – |  |
Sir William Mulock PC, KCMG (1843–1944) Administrator |
25 October 1931 |
1 November 1932 |
||
| 15 |  |
Herbert Alexander Bruce (1868–1963) |
1 November 1932 |
23 November 1937 |
||
| Mitchell Hepburn (1934–1942) |
||||||
| Edward VIII (1936) |
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| George VI (1936–1952) |
||||||
| 16 | .jpg) |
Albert Edward Matthews (1873–1949) |
23 November 1937 |
26 December 1946 |
||
| Gordon Daniel Conant (1942–1943) |
||||||
| Harry Nixon (1943) |
||||||
| George A. Drew (1943–1948) |
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| 17 |  |
Ray Lawson OBE (1886–1980) |
26 December 1946 |
18 February 1952 |
||
| Thomas Laird Kennedy (1948–1949) |
||||||
| Leslie Frost (1949–1961) |
||||||
| Elizabeth II (1952–2022) |
||||||
| 18 |  |
Louis Orville Breithaupt (1890–1960) |
18 February 1952 |
30 December 1957 |
||
| 19 |  |
John Keiller MacKay OC, DSO, VD, QC (1880–1970) |
30 December 1957 |
1 May 1963 |
||
| John Robarts (1961–1971) |
||||||
| 20 |  |
William Earl Rowe PC (1894–1984) |
1 May 1963 |
4 July 1968 |
||
| 21 |  |
William Ross Macdonald PC, OC, CD, QC (1891–1976) |
4 July 1968 |
10 April 1974 |
||
| Bill Davis (1971–1985) |
||||||
| 22 | |
Pauline Mills McGibbon OC (1910–2001) |
10 April 1974 |
15 September 1980 |
||
| 23 | |
John Black Aird OC, QC (1923–1995) |
15 September 1980 |
20 September 1985 |
||
| Frank Miller (1985) |
||||||
| David Peterson (1985–1990) |
||||||
| 24 |  |
Lincoln Alexander PC, OOnt, CD, QC (1922–2012) |
20 September 1985 |
10 December 1991 |
||
| Bob Rae (1990–1995) |
||||||
| 25 | |
Hal Jackman CM (born 1932) |
11 December 1991 |
24 January 1997 |
||
| Mike Harris (1995–2002) |
||||||
| 26 |  |
Hilary Weston OOnt (born 1942) |
24 January 1997 |
7 March 2002 |
||
| 27 | _(cropped).jpg) |
James Bartleman OOnt (1939–2023) |
7 March 2002 |
5 September 2007 |
||
| Ernie Eves (2002–2003) |
||||||
| Dalton McGuinty (2003–2013) |
||||||
| 28 | _(cropped).jpg) |
David Onley OOnt (1950–2023) |
5 September 2007 |
23 September 2014 |
||
| Kathleen Wynne (2013–2018) |
||||||
| 29 | _(cropped).jpg) |
Elizabeth Dowdeswell OC, OOnt (born 1944) |
23 September 2014 |
14 November 2023 |
||
| Doug Ford (since 2018) |
||||||
| Charles III (since 2022) |
||||||
| 30 | .jpg) |
Edith Dumont OOnt (born 1964) |
14 November 2023 |
|||
| Source: | ||||||
More Information
- Office-holders of Canada
- Canadian incumbents by year
