Sydenham, Charles Edward Poulett-Thomson
SYDENHAM, CHARLES EDWARD POULETT-THOMSON, 1st BARON(1799-1841), British statesman, was born on the 13th of September 1799, being the son of John Buncombe- PoulettThomson, 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 1840 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.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
