Monck, Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount

Monck, Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount mŭngk [key], 1819–94, governor-general of Canada, b. Ireland. An Irish peer, he was elected (1852) to the British House of Commons as a Liberal and was (1855–58) a lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's government. As governor-general (1861–67) of British North America (Canada), he worked to prevent a rupture between the United States and Great Britain during the American Civil War and to bring about confederation of the Canadian provinces. Created (1866) a baron in the peerage of Great Britain, he was appointed (1867) the first governor-general of the Dominion of Canada. He resigned in 1868 and returned to Ireland, where he served (1874–92) as lord lieutenant of Dublin county.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Canadian History: Biographies