- James Baby
James Baby (
August 25 1763 –February 19 1833 ) was a judge and political figure inUpper Canada .He was born Jacques Bâby, the son of
Jacques Baby , to a prosperous family inDetroit in 1763 and educated inUpper Canada , then part of the province ofQuebec , where his uncle, François Baby, lived. In 1792, he was appointed to the Executive Council andLegislative Council of Upper Canada and became lieutenant for Kent County. In 1793, he was appointed judge in the Western District.After the
Jay Treaty in 1795, the Baby family left the Detroit area and moved to Sandwich (now Windsor). (Today his house is owned by theOntario Heritage Trust and currently houses government offices.) Over the years, the family acquired large amounts of land in the western region of Upper Canada. Baby was put in charge of the 1st Kent militia. During theWar of 1812 , Sandwich was seized by the Americans and Baby was later taken prisoner at theBattle of the Thames . During the American occupation, his property suffered extensive damage.In 1815, he was appointed Inspector General and moved to York (
Toronto ), where he was part of the ruling clique known as theFamily Compact . In 1823 he represented Upper Canada in resolving a dispute withLower Canada over the sharing of customs revenues. ARoman Catholic , he helped establish the first Catholic church at York, St. Paul's.He died at York in 1833.
External links
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=2740 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
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