The following is alist of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony ofUpper Canada. The office ofLieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created uponConfederation.[1] The predecessor office, lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, was a British colonial officer, appointed by the British government to administer the government of the colony, from 1791 to 1841. (Prior to 1791, the territory which is now Ontario was part of theold Province of Quebec, which was administered by the colonialgovernors of the Province of Quebec.)
In 1841, the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada were abolished and merged into the newProvince of Canada, with a singleParliament andGovernor General. Upper Canada was known as Canada West, but did not have a separate government or lieutenant governor. It was simply an administrative division of the Province of Canada.
Prior toConfederation, the lieutenant governors of Upper Canada were either British colonial administrators orBritish Army officers. The first lieutenant governor of Ontario, General SirHenry William Stisted, was the last British lieutenant governor. From 1868 onwards, only Canadians were appointed to the position.
| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | ||||
| 1 |  | John Graves Simcoe[2] (1752–1806) | 1791 | 1798 | George III (1760–1820) |
| – |  | Peter Russell[3] (1733–1808) Administrator of the Government | 1796 | 1799 | |
| 2 | Peter Hunter[4] (1746–1805) | 1799 | 1805 | ||
| – | Alexander Grant[5] (1734–1813) Administrator of the Government | 1805 | 1806 | ||
| 3 |  | Francis Gore[6] (1769–1852) | 1806 | 1817 | |
| – |  | SirIsaac Brock (1769–1812) Acting | 1811 | 1812 | |
| – | .jpg) | SirRoger Hale Sheaffe 1st Baronet (1763–1851) Acting | 1812 | 1813 | |
| – | Sir Francis de Rottenburg Baron of Rottenburg (1757–1832) Acting | 1813 | 1813 | ||
| – | .jpg) | SirGordon Drummond (1772–1854) Acting | 1813 | 1814 | |
| – |  | SirGeorge Murray (1772–1846) Acting | 1815 | 1815 | |
| – |  | SirFrederick Philipse Robinson (1763–1852) Acting | 1815 | 1815 | |
| – |  | Samuel Smith[7] (1756–1826) Administrator of the Government | 1817 | 1818 | |
| 4 |  | SirPeregrine Maitland[8] (1777–1854) | 1818 | 1828 | |
| George IV (1820–1830) | |||||
| 5 |  | SirJohn Colborne[9] (1778–1863) | 1828 | 1836 | |
| William IV (1830–1837) | |||||
| 6 |  | SirFrancis Bond Head[10] (1778–1863) | 1836 | 1838 | |
| Victoria (1837–1901) | |||||
| 7 |  | SirGeorge Arthur[11] (1778–1863) | 1838 | 1839 | |
| 8 |  | Charles Poulett Thomson 1stBaron Sydenham[12] (1799–1841) | 1839 | 1841 | |
| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | Premier Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | |||||
| 1 |  | Henry William Stisted (1817–1875) | 1 July 1867 | 14 July 1868 | Victoria (1837–1901) | John Sandfield Macdonald (1867–1871) |
| 2 |  | William Pearce Howland (1811–1907) | 15 July 1868 | 11 November 1873 | ||
| Edward Blake (1871–1872) | ||||||
| SirOliver Mowat (1872–1896) | ||||||
| 3 |  | John Willoughby Crawford (1817–1875) | 12 November 1873 | 13 May 1875 | ||
| – |  | SirWilliam Buell Richards (1815–1889) Administrator of the Government | 13 May 1875 | 18 May 1875 | ||
| 4 |  | Donald Alexander Macdonald (1817–1896) | 18 May 1875 | 30 June 1880 | ||
| 5 |  | John Beverley Robinson (1821–1896) | 1 July 1880 | 31 May 1887 | ||
| 6 |  | SirAlexander Campbell (1822–1892) | 1 June 1887 | 24 May 1892 | ||
| – |  | John Hawkins Hagarty (1816–1900) Administrator of the Government | 24 May 1892 | 30 May 1892 | ||
| 7 |  | George Airey Kirkpatrick (1841–1899) | 30 May 1892 | 7 November 1896 | ||
| Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1896–1899) | ||||||
| – |  | SirCasimir Gzowski (1813–1898) Administrator of the Government | {7 November 1896 | 18 November 1897 | ||
| 8 | .jpg) | SirOliver Mowat (1820–1903) | 18 November 1897 | 19 April 1903 | ||
| SirGeorge William Ross (1899–1905) | ||||||
| Edward VII (1901–1910) | ||||||
| – |  | SirCharles Moss (1840–1912) Administrator of the Government | 19 April 1903 | 21 April 1903 | ||
| 9 |  | SirWilliam Mortimer Clark (1836–1915) | 21 April 1903 | 21 September 1908 | ||
| SirJames Whitney (1905–1914) | ||||||
| 10 | .jpg) | SirJohn Morison Gibson (1842–1929) | 21 September 1908 | 26 September 1914 | ||
| George V (1910–1936) | ||||||
| 11 |  | SirJohn Strathearn Hendrie (1857–1923) | 26 September 1914 | 20 November 1919 | SirWilliam Howard Hearst (1914–1919) | |
| Ernest Charles Drury (1919–1923) | ||||||
| 12 |  | Lionel Herbert Clarke (1859–1921) | 20 November 1919 | 29 August 1921 | ||
| – |  | SirWilliam Ralph Meredith (1840–1923) Administrator of the Government | 29 August 1921 | 10 September 1921 | ||
| 13 |  | Henry Cockshutt (1868–1944) | 10 September 1921 | 12 January 1927 | ||
| Howard Ferguson (1923–1930) | ||||||
| 14 |  | William Donald Ross (1869–1947) | 12 January 1927 | 25 October 1931 | ||
| George Stewart Henry (1930–1934) | ||||||
| – |  | SirWilliam Mulock (1843–1944) Administrator of the Government | 25 October 1931 | 1 November 1932 | ||
| 15 |  | Herbert Alexander Bruce (1868–1963) | 1 November 1932 | 23 November 1937 | ||
| Mitchell Hepburn (1934–1942) | ||||||
| Edward VIII (1936) | ||||||
| George VI (1936–1952) | ||||||
| 16 | .jpg) | Albert Edward Matthews (1873–1949) | 23 November 1937 | 26 December 1946 | ||
| Gordon Daniel Conant (1942–1943) | ||||||
| Harry Nixon (1943) | ||||||
| George A. Drew (1943–1948) | ||||||
| 17 |  | Ray Lawson (1886–1980) | 26 December 1946 | 18 February 1952 | ||
| Thomas Laird Kennedy (1948–1949) | ||||||
| Leslie Frost (1949–1961) | ||||||
| Elizabeth II (1952–2022) | ||||||
| 18 |  | Louis Orville Breithaupt (1890–1960) | 18 February 1952 | 30 December 1957 | ||
| 19 |  | John Keiller MacKay (1880–1970) | 30 December 1957 | 1 May 1963 | ||
| John Robarts (1961–1971) | ||||||
| 20 |  | William Earl Rowe (1894–1984) | 1 May 1963 | 4 July 1968 | ||
| 21 |  | William Ross Macdonald (1891–1976) | 4 July 1968 | 10 April 1974 | ||
| Bill Davis (1971–1985) | ||||||
| 22 | | Pauline Mills McGibbon (1910–2001) | 10 April 1974 | 15 September 1980 | ||
| 23 | | John Black Aird (1923–1995) | 15 September 1980 | 20 September 1985 | ||
| Frank Miller (1985) | ||||||
| David Peterson (1985–1990) | ||||||
| 24 |  | Lincoln Alexander (1922–2012) | 20 September 1985 | 10 December 1991 | ||
| Bob Rae (1990–1995) | ||||||
| 25 | | Hal Jackman (born 1932) | 11 December 1991 | 24 January 1997 | ||
| Mike Harris (1995–2002) | ||||||
| 26 |  | Hilary Weston (1942–2025) | 24 January 1997 | 7 March 2002 | ||
| 27 | _(cropped).jpg) | James Bartleman (1939–2023) | 7 March 2002 | 5 September 2007 | ||
| Ernie Eves (2002–2003) | ||||||
| Dalton McGuinty (2003–2013) | ||||||
| 28 | _(cropped).jpg) | David Onley (1950–2023) | 5 September 2007 | 23 September 2014 | ||
| Kathleen Wynne (2013–2018) | ||||||
| 29 | _(cropped).jpg) | Elizabeth Dowdeswell (born 1944) | 23 September 2014 | 14 November 2023 | ||
| Doug Ford (since 2018) | ||||||
| Charles III (since 2022) | ||||||
| 30 | .jpg) | Edith Dumont (born 1964) | 14 November 2023 | |||
| Source:[13][14] | ||||||
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