CHARLES

See also:

• EDWARD

EDWARD

See also:

• SYDENHAM
• CHARLES EDWARD SYDENHAM
• SYDENHAM, THOMAS (1624-1689)

SYDENHAM  POULETT-THOMSON, 1St BARON(1799-1841), British statesman, was born on the 13th of September 1799, being the son of John Buncombe-Poulett-Thomson, a London merchant . After some years spent in his father's business in Russia and in London he was returned to the House of Commons for Dover in 1826 . In 1830 he joined Lord Grey's ministry as vice-president of the board of trade and treasurer of the navy . A free-trader and an expert in financial matters he was elected M.P. for Manchester in 1832, a seat which he occupied for many years . He was continuously occupied with negotiations affecting international commerce until 1839, when he accepted the governor-generalship of Canada,where it fell to his lot to establish the union of Upper and Lower Canada . His services in establishing the Canadian constitution were recognized in 184o by a K.C.B. and a peerage . He took the title of Baron Sydenham of Sydenham in Kent and Toronto in Canada . He died unmarried on the 4th of September 1841, when his peerage became extinct . His Memoirs were published by his brother, G . J . Poulett Scrope, in 1843 .