John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham

The Right Honourable The Earl of Durham GCB, PC
Portrait by Thomas Phillips, 1820
Lord Privy Seal
In office 22 November 1830 – March 1833
Monarch	William IV
Prime Minister	The Earl Grey
Preceded by	The Earl of Rosslyn
Succeeded by	The Earl of Ripon
Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada
In office 1838–1839
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Lord Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl of Gosford
Succeeded by	The Lord Sydenham
Governor General and High Commissioner, British North America[1]
In office 1838–1839
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Lord Melbourne
Preceded by	Sir John Colborne
Succeeded by	The Lord Sydenham
Personal details
Born	12 April 1792 St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England
Died	28 July 1840(1840-07-28) (aged 48) Cowes, England
Political party	Whig
Spouses	Harriet Cholmondeley ​ ​ (m. 1812; died 1815)​ Lady Louisa Grey ​ (m. 1816)​
Children	8
Parents	William Henry Lambton Lady Anne Barbara Frances Villiers
Signature
Military career
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1809–1811
Rank	Cornet
Unit	10th Hussars

John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, GCB, PC (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America.^[2]

A leading reformer, Lord Durham played a major role in the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832. He later served as ambassador to Russia. He was a founding member and chairman of the New Zealand Company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand.

George Woodcock wrote Lord Durham was "proud, wayward, immensely rich, with romantic good looks and an explosive temper", one of those "natural rebels who turn their rebellious energies to constructive purposes. Both at home and abroad he became a powerful exponent of the early nineteenth-century liberal spirit."^[3]