Evan Nepean

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Sir Evan Nepean

Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC (born July 9, 1751 in St. Stephens , Cornwall , † October 2, 1822 in Dorset ) was a British colonial official and politician .

Early years in the Navy

In December 1773, Evan Nepean joined the Royal Navy and initially served on the HMS Boyne as the captain's secretary. In 1775 he was promoted to paymaster . During the American Revolutionary War he was 1776 in Boston Secretary of Admiral Molyneux Shuldham and again of (1777-1778) in Plymouth . From 1780 to 1782 he was paymaster on the HMS Foudroyant under Captain John Jervis .

Political career

In 1782, at the age of 29, Nepean became the permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department , his first public office in a series of several. The Department was also responsible for colonial policy from 1782 to 1801, and Nepean in particular oversaw Canadian affairs.

These were in a difficult phase at the time, because the American War of Independence ended in 1783 and the border between Canada and the United States had not yet been determined. In addition, the English-speaking minority in Québec , which had French laws and institutions and was mostly Catholic, did not feel represented. The loyalists who fled north after the War of Independence had to be taken care of and settled in new areas, which in 1783 were "bought" from the Indians. Nepean had to solve all these problems and prepared the Canada Act of 1782, according to which the province of Canada was divided into two provinces, each with its own parliament. With the beginning of the French Revolution in 1793, Nepean’s duties multiplied, and an English businessman who traded with Canada wrote that “our friend Nepean” was so busy “that it sometimes makes one sad to see him [...] almost the whole burden of official business now rests on his shoulders ”(“ so occupied that it is melancholy at times to see him […] almost the whole official business is now thrown upon his shoulders ”).

Nepean was overworked and ailing, so that he had to take vacation time and again to recover. His colleague William Huskisson admired him for "his no less appreciable tireless attention in his tasks than for his upright and honorable behavior" (English "no less remarkable for his indefatigable attention to business than for his upright and honorable conduct").

In 1795, Evan Nepean became Secretary of the Admiralty , an equally tumultuous position since the Royal Navy played an important role in the coalition wars. He also worked again as secretary for John Jervis, with whom he became a close friend. From 1796 to 1802 he was an MP for the Borough of Queenborough and from 1802 to 1812 for the Borough of Bridport in the British House of Lords . In 1802 he was given the hereditary title of Baronet , of Bothenhampton in the County of Dorset, and he was appointed to the Privy Council .

In 1804, Nepean held the office of Chief Secretary for Ireland for a short time , during which time he became an honorary citizen of Dublin . From 1812 to 1819 he was governor of Bombay . While in India he developed a keen interest in flora and fauna and sent saplings and seeds to friends in England. In 1822 he was appointed Sheriff of Dorset and a Fellow of the Royal Society , but died that same year.

family

Evan Nepean was the second of three sons to Nicholas Nepean and his wife Margaret. His father was from Cornwall and his mother from South Wales . The family name is probably derived from the village of Nanpean.

Nepean was married to Margaret Skinner; the couple had four sons and one daughter. One of his descendants is the actor Hugh Grant .

Named after Nepean

The following places are named after Evan Nepean:

Places called Nepean in the Pacific and Australia are likely named after Nepean's younger brother Nicholas , a Navy officer.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Sir Evan Nepean on nepeanmuseum.ca ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nepeanmuseum.ca
  2. ↑ Edward Boswell: The civil division of the county of Dorset ( English ) (Accessed on August 5, 2013).
  3. ↑ Fyvola Susan MacLean on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ Nepean, Nicholas on adb.anu.edu.au

Web links

predecessor title successor
New title created Baronet, of Bothenhampton
1802-1822 		Molyneux Nepean
personal data
SURNAME Nepean, Evan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nepean, Sir Evan, 1st Baronet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British colonial official and politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Stephens , Cornwall
DATE OF DEATH October 2, 1822
Place of death Dorset