Haldimand, Frederick, Sir, 1718-1791

• Haldimand, François-Louis-Frédéric, 1718-1791

Sir Frederick Haldimand was a military officer and governor who lived in colonial Quebec. He was born in Yverdon, Switzerland on 11 August 1718, the son of François-Louis Haldimand and Marie-Madeleine de Treytorrens. He joined the Prussian Army in 1740 and gained his early experience in Prussia and Holland. He joined the British army in 1756 and served in the Seven Years' War in North America. In 1762, after the conclusion of the war, he received a posting as the military governor of Trois-Rivières. From 1765 to 1773, he served as brigadier general in charge of East and West Florida. He then took a posting in New York, first as acting commander-in-chief of North America, and then as a second in command. In 1777, Haldimand was named governor of Quebec, a position he held from 1778 to 1784, throughout the American Revolutionary War. His main concerns during his office were suppressing dissent within Quebec and increasing the province's military defenses against the threat of American invasion. He also played a significant role in the relocation of American loyalists to Upper Canada, as well as in the creation of the 1784 Haldimand Treaty. This treaty granted land to the Haudenosaunee who served the British during the American Revolutionary War, relocating them from New York to what is now the Six Nations Reserve, in what was then the territory of the Mississaugas. In 1784, Haldimand returned to England, settling in London, but frequently returning home for visits. He died in Switzerland on 5 June 1791.

Dates of activity and biographical details based on content of the collection, and an entry in the Canadian Dictionary of Biography: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/haldimand_frederick_5E.html