View source for Robert Baldwin

{{Short description|Co-Premier of Province of Canada}}
{{other people}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name         = Robert Baldwin
| image        = robertBaldwin23.jpg
| caption      = 
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1804|5|12|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[York, Upper Canada|York]], Upper Canada
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1858|12|9|1804|5|12}}
| death_place  = [[Toronto]], Canada West
| restingplace = [[Spadina House]] (Baldwin family cemetery)
| office       = [[List of Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada|Joint Premier of Province of Canada]], for [[Canada West]]
| term_start   = 1842
| term_end     = 1843
| predecessor  = [[William Henry Draper (judge)|William Henry Draper]]
| successor    = 
| term_start2  = March 11, 1848
| term_end2    = June 21, 1851
| predecessor2 = 
| successor2   = [[Francis Hincks]]
| office3      = Attorney General for Canada West
| term_start3  = September 17, 1842
| term_end3    = December 11, 1843
| predecessor3 = [[William Henry Draper (judge)|William Henry Draper]]
| successor3   = William Henry Draper
| term_start4  = March 11, 1848
| term_end4    = June 21, 1851
| predecessor4 = [[Henry Sherwood]]
| successor4   = [[William Buell Richards]]
| office5      = Member of the [[Parliament of the Province of Canada]] for [[Hastings (Province of Canada electoral district)|Hastings]], Canada West
| term_start5  = 1841
| term_end5    = 1842
| predecessor5 = ''New position''
| successor5   = [[Edmund Murney]]
| office6      = Member of the [[Parliament of the Province of Canada]] for [[Rimouski (Province of Canada electoral district)|Rimouski]], [[Canada East]]
| term_start6  = 1843
| term_end6    = 1844
| predecessor6 = [[Michel Borne]]
| successor6   = [[Louis Bertrand (Quebec seigneur)|Louis Bertrand]]
| party        = [[Reform movement (Upper Canada)|Reform movement]]
| profession   = Lawyer
| spouse       = Augusta Elizabeth Sullivan (May 3, 1827;  her death, January 11, 1836) 
| relatives    = [[William Warren Baldwin]] (father)<br>[[Frederick Walker Baldwin]] (grandson)<br>[[Robert Baldwin Ross]] (grandson)
| signature    = Robert Baldwin Signature.svg
}}

'''Robert Baldwin''' (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an [[Upper Canada|Upper Canadian]] lawyer and politician who with his political partner [[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine]] of [[Lower Canada]], led the first [[responsible government]] ministry in the [[Province of Canada]]. "Responsible Government" marked the province's democratic self-government, without a revolution, although not without violence. This achievement also included the introduction of [[municipal government]], the introduction of a modern legal system, reforms to the [[jury system]] in Upper Canada,<ref>{{Cite canlaw|short title  =An Act for the consolidation and amendment of the Laws relative to Jurors, Juries and Inquests in that part of this Province called Upper Canada|abbr =SProvCanada|year =1850 (13 & 14 Vict.)|chapter =55|link =https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00924_9/169}}</ref> and the abolition of [[imprisonment for debt]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome address by John Ralston Saul - LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium |url=https://the.akdn/en/resources-media/resources/speeches/welcome-address-john-ralston-saul-lafontaine-baldwin-symposium-mr-john-ralston-saul |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Aga Khan Development Network |language=en}}</ref> Baldwin is also noted for feuding with the [[Orange Order]] and other fraternal societies. The Lafontaine-Baldwin government enacted the [[Rebellion Losses Bill]] to compensate Lower Canadians for damages suffered during the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] of 1837–1838.  The passage of the Bill outraged Anglo-Canadian Tories in Montreal, resulting in the [[burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal]] in 1849.{{sfn|Saul|1997|pp=65-66}}

==Family==
Robert Baldwin's grandfather, also Robert Baldwin ("Robert the Emigrant")  moved to [[Upper Canada]] from [[Ireland]] in 1799.  His father was [[William Warren Baldwin]] (April 25, 1775 – January 8, 1844).

The Baldwin family was a prominent one. Robert Baldwin counted among his cousins such influential Upper Canadians as the Anglican bishop [[Maurice Scollard Baldwin]], Toronto mayor [[Robert Baldwin Sullivan]] and the Irish-Catholic leader [[Connell James Baldwin]]. The Russell-Willcocks-Baldwin family formed an elite "compact" much like the infamous "Family Compact" led by [[Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto|Sir John Robinson]] against whom they fought.{{sfn|Patterson|1989|pp=174-191}}

In 1827, Baldwin, married his cousin Augusta Elizabeth Sullivan, daughter of Daniel Sullivan. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters. The marriage ended with Augusta Elizabeth's death in 1836. Robert Baldwin died twenty-two years later, in 1858.{{sfn|Morgan|1903|p=21}}

Robert Baldwin was the grandfather of [[Frederick Walker Baldwin]], a Canadian aviation pioneer and partner of the famous inventor [[Alexander Graham Bell]]. Robert Baldwin was also the grandfather of [[Robert Baldwin Ross]], a French-born journalist, art critic, and literary executor of [[Oscar Wilde]].

== Political principles ==
[[File:Robert Baldwin Quebec.JPG|thumb|left|[[Alfred Laliberté]]'s Robert Baldwin sculpture in front of [[Parliament Building (Quebec)]]]]

=== First Principles ===
Baldwin's political principles must be viewed in the context of the eighteenth-century British “[[Country Party (Britain)|Country Party]],” a loose coalition of Parliamentarians whose influence was also felt in the [[American Revolution]] and subsequent Jacksonian politics. The Country party embodied a [[Classical republicanism|civic humanism]] that drew on ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of citizenship, and the value of selfless political participation for the public good; those selfish few who placed their private interests before the public good threatened the moral commitment of all citizens to political participation. The civic humanism of the Country party rejected the commercial ideology of the royal "Court” party. The Country party had a republican emphasis that sought to preserve the power of a democratic parliament from the encroachments of the crown during the vast expansion of state administration, public credit, and the financial and commercial revolutions in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth centuries.  It was similar to American conceptions of “[[Republicanism in the United States|civic republicanism]]” as they developed after the revolution among Jacksonian Democrats, as well as in the [[Chartism|Chartist]] movement in Britain in the late 1830s.{{sfn|Smith|1995|pp=48-49}}

=== Responsible Government ===
{{main|Responsible Government}}

The concept of "responsible government" has been attributed to Dr. William W. Baldwin and his son, Robert. Although the idea of colonial ministerial responsibility to a colonial parliament had been touted since the late 18th century, the Baldwins were among the first to successfully implement the principle.{{sfn|Patterson|1989|pp=186-187}} The meaning of the phrase evolved. In an 1828 Upper Canadian petition to the British Parliament on colonial ills, it was an assertion that the Constitutional Act was a treaty between the British Parliament and the colonial peoples, and could not be arbitrarily altered by one or the other party.{{sfn|Romney|1999|pp=50-51}} In 1836, when Baldwin convinced the members of the Executive Council to resign over Lt. Governor Bond-Head's refusal to consult them on administrative appointments, it did not mean ministerial accountability to the elected Assembly (Executive Councillors were not ministers) but the Crown's obligation to consult that Council. The slipperiness of the phrase points to its real goal, 'sovereignty by stealth,' without rebellion.{{sfn|Romney|1999|pp=61-65}} It was not until after the [[Rebellions of 1837]], and the implementation of [[Lord Durham's Report]], that the Executive Council became a cabinet of ministers that were heads of departments, and the phrase "responsible government" came to mean their responsibility to the elected Assembly, not the appointed Governor.

=== Municipal government ===
{{main|Municipal government in Canada}}
Municipal government in Upper Canada was under the control of appointed magistrates who sat in [[Court of Quarter Sessions|Courts of Quarter Sessions]] to administer the law within a District. A few cities, such as Toronto, were incorporated by special acts of the legislature. After the Union of the Canadas, the new governor, [[Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham|Charles Poulett Thomson]], 1st Baron Sydenham, spearheaded the passage of the District Councils Act which transferred the municipal government to District Councils. His bill allowed for two elected councilors from each township, but the warden, clerk, and treasurer were to be appointed by the government. This thus allowed for strong administrative control and continued government patronage appointments. Sydenham's bill reflected his larger concerns to limit popular participation under the tutelage of a strong executive.{{sfn|Whebell|1989|page=194}} Baldwin was one of the few Reformers who opposed the District Council Act; he considered its reform by the Baldwin Act in 1849 one of his greatest accomplishments. The Baldwin Act made the municipal government truly democratic rather than an extension of central control of the Crown. It delegated authority to the municipal governments so they could raise taxes and enact [[by-law]]s. It also established a hierarchy of types of municipal governments, starting at the top with cities and continued down past towns, villages and finally townships. This system was to prevail for the next 150 years.{{sfn|White|2001|p=134}}

== Political career ==

Robert Baldwin was not a natural politician. He was described as melancholy, and awkward in public. He gave speeches in a whispering, halting style.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=42-45}}  Although elected in 1830 as a member of the [[10th Parliament of Upper Canada|Legislative Assembly]] for the town of [[York, Upper Canada|York]] in a by-election, he was defeated in the general election later that year. Despite this inauspicious start, his adherence to principle and his fearlessness in the face of [[Orange Order]] electoral violence won him the loyalty of voters in the post-Rebellion period.

=== To the Rebellion of 1837 ===
[[Image: John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham by Thomas Phillips.jpg|thumb|left|John George Lambton,<br> 1st Earl of Durham.]]
After losing his seat in the 1830 election, Baldwin withdrew to his private legal practice until his wife's death as a result of a Caesarian in 1836. He took no part in the [[Reform Movement (Upper Canada)|Political Union movement]] of the 1830s. Two weeks after Eliza Baldwin's death, Sir [[Francis Bond Head]] (1793&ndash;1875) arrived as the new Lieutenant Governor, to address reform grievances. He sought out and appointed reformers Baldwin, John Dunn and [[John Rolph (politician)|John Rolph]] to the [[Executive Council of Upper Canada|Executive Council]] with three [[Family Compact|Compact]] members. Baldwin's condition for joining the Executive Council was a verbal commitment by Bond Head to a responsible government. Bond Head later refused to give written confirmation of the agreement, so Baldwin resigned within a month and convinced the other councilors, both Reform and Tory, to resign with him. This convinced Bond Head that the Reformers were intractable. He called an immediate election, in which he as Lt. Governor waded into the electoral fray, and with the use of Orange Order polling violence, expunged the reformers from the Legislative Assembly.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=55-56}}

Baldwin traveled to Great Britain in 1836 to see the colonial secretary, Lord Glenelg but was refused. He wrote to Glenelg that "if the Mother Country desires to retain the colony ... it can only be done either by force or with the consent of the people. I take it for granted that Great Britain cannot desire to exercise a Government of the Sword." He laid out the remedy – responsible government – but was spurned, and the colony descended into rebellion.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=57-59}}
{{wikisource|Report on the Affairs of British North America}}
Though a moderate reformer, Robert Baldwin strongly disapproved of the [[Upper Canada Rebellion|rebellion]] of 1837&ndash;38, and as a function of his views provided allegedly a lackluster defense of [[Peter Matthews (rebel)]], who was executed for his role in the Rebellion. Baldwin served as an intermediary, with John Rolph, between the rebels and the Lt. Governor, carrying a flag of truce to the rebel camp north of Toronto on 5 December 1837, but failed to head off an armed clash.{{sfn|Stagg|1985|p=xlvi}} He and his father William advised [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] to suggest [[responsible government]] to the British government.

=== The Union of the Canadas ===
[[File:SharonTemple.jpg|thumb|The Temple of the [[The Children of Peace|Children of Peace]], Sharon]]
In response to Durham's Report, the British Government appointed [[Charles Poulett Thomson]] (later Lord Sydenham) as Governor with two main tasks. Firstly, he was to weaken the [[Canadien]] vote in Lower Canada through the union of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada and a strengthened Executive Council. And secondly, he was to strengthen British rule by imposing a new system of centrally controlled District Councils that would take much of the elected Assembly's legislative purview, leaving it little to do but approve the Governor's budgets. Both reforms would strengthen the central state and weaken (Canadien) legislative power.

Sydenham reformed the Executive Council, making government ministers members for the first time (i.e. [[Act of Union 1840|Cabinet Rule]]). He attempted to solicit Reform support by appointing Baldwin as Solicitor General in 1840. To follow his principle of responsible government, Baldwin needed to seek election so that he, a government minister, could be accountable to the elected Assembly, not the Crown.{{sfn|Schrauwers|2009|pp=216-220}}

Orange Order riots during the Toronto civic elections in January 1841 convinced Baldwin he could never win a seat in the city. Instead, he sought election in the ridings of Hastings and 4th York. [[The Children of Peace]], who had played a large role in the pre-Rebellion [[Reform Movement (Upper Canada)|Reform Movement]], managed Baldwin's election in 4th York and he 'walked over the course without a contest,' thus becoming the first member to be elected to the United Parliament ([[1st Parliament of the Province of Canada]]).{{sfn|Schrauwers|2009|pp=226-227}} He was also elected in the district of Hastings.

=== Baldwin & LaFontaine ===
[[File:Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Louis Hypolyte Lafontaine|Louis-Hypolite LaFontaine]], Father of [[Responsible Government]]]]
Although Baldwin was elected in two seats in [[Canada West]], reformers were in the minority. In [[Canada East]], gerrymandering and Orange Order violence were used to prevent the election of [[Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine]], leader of the [[Canadien]] reformers in [[Terrebonne, Quebec|Terrebonne]], outside Montreal. To ensure LaFontaine a seat, Baldwin proposed to [[David Willson (1778–1866)|David Willson]], leader of the [[The Children of Peace|Children of Peace]], that they nominate LaFontaine for the seat in 4th York.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=122-123}} Baldwin also insisted that Sydenham include LaFontaine in the reformed Executive Council, or he would resign as Solicitor General. Their alliance allowed Lafontaine to have a seat in the assembly in 1841 and for Baldwin to win the by-election in 1843.

On 3 September 1841, the Children of Peace held a campaign rally for Baldwin and LaFontaine in their [[Sharon Temple|Temple]], where they rejoiced "to say that we have it in our power to show our impartial respect to the Canadian people of the Lower Province." Despite threats of Orange Order violence, LaFontaine was [[1st Parliament of the Province of Canada|elected as representative of 4th York]].{{sfn|Schrauwers|2009|pp=229-233}}

However, before LaFontaine could take up his seat, Governor Sydenham died. His replacement, Sir [[Charles Bagot]], was not able to form a mixed cabinet of Reformers and Tories, and so he was forced to include the "Canadien party" under LaFontaine. LaFontaine refused to join the Executive Council unless Baldwin was also included. Bagot was finally forced to accede in September 1842, and when he became severely ill thereafter, Baldwin and Lafontaine became the first real premiers of the Province of Canada.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=130-133}} However, to take office as ministers, the two had to run for re-election. While LaFontaine was easily re-elected in 4th York, Baldwin lost his seat in Hastings as a result of Orange Order violence. It was now that the pact between the two men was completely solidified, as LaFontaine arranged a by-election to be held in [[Rimouski (Province of Canada electoral district)|Rimouski]], a constituency in a heavily francophone area of Canada East, and for Baldwin to run there. Baldwin won the 1843 by-election. This was expression of the reciprocal relationship between the two Canadas they sought. LaFontaine overcame linguistic prejudice to win a seat in English Canada, and Baldwin obtained a seat in French Canada.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=134-135}}

=== Metcalfe and the Reform Association of Canada ===
[[File: Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe by George Chinnery.jpg|thumbnail|left|Lord Charles Metcalfe]]

The Baldwin-LaFontaine ministry barely lasted six months before Governor Bagot also died in March 1843. He was replaced with Sir [[Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe|Charles Metcalfe]], whose instructions were to check the "radical" reform government. The relationship between Baldwin and Metcalfe soured over Baldwin's Secret Societies Bill, which sought to outlaw the Orange Order and its political violence. Metcalfe rejected the legislation and then began appointing his supporters to patronage positions without Baldwin and LaFontaine's approval. They resigned in November 1843, beginning a constitutional crisis that lasted for a year. This year-long crisis, in which the legislature was prorogued, “was the final signpost on Upper Canada's conceptual road to democracy. Lacking the scale of the American Revolution, it nonetheless forced a comparable articulation and rethinking of the basics of political dialogue in the province.”{{sfn|McNairn|2000|p=237}}
[[File: Second Meeting House.jpg|thumb|[[The Children of Peace|The Second Meeting House, Sharon]], where the Reform Association met June, 1844.]]
During the year-long crisis, Metcalfe was to champion the Sydenham system and its conceptions of a limited, liberal capitalist government accountable to the imperial state, not the local Assembly; he continued to govern, demonstrating the irrelevance of Parliament. Baldwin now established a “Reform Association” in February 1844, to unite the Reform movement in Canada West to explain their understanding of responsible government before the expected election. Twenty-two branches were established. A grand meeting of all branches of the Reform Association was held in the Second Meeting House of the [[The Children of Peace|Children of Peace]] in [[Sharon, Ontario|Sharon]]. It was ultimately to serve as the springboard for Baldwin's successful candidacy in 4th York. Baldwin had been at a loss about where to run after his loss in Hastings. Orange mobs continued to rule out any chance in Hastings, or in 2nd York, where he had lost to Orange leader George Duggan. LaFontaine, in yet another act of friendship, gave up his seat representing 4th York, thus allowing the desperate Baldwin to run there. [[David Willson (1778–1866)|David Willson]], having arranged for the Reform Association rally during the illumination ceremony, now became Baldwin's campaign manager. It was reported that over three thousand people attended this June rally for Baldwin.{{sfn|Schrauwers|2009|pp=239-240}}

=== Responsible Government achieved ===
[[File:Incendie Parlement Montreal.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Joseph Légaré]], ''The Burning of the Parliament Building in Montreal'', 1849]]
{{main|Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal}}
At the general election which followed, the Governor-General was sustained by a narrow majority. The year-long political crisis had, however, made it clear that responsible government was inevitable; even the old Compact Tories, now reshaped into an incipient conservative party, demanded some form of responsible government.{{sfn|Careless|1967|p=95}} Metcalfe continued to govern until struck down by illness in 1846. The new Governor-General, [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]], was sent out specifically to acknowledge responsible government in the Canadas. In 1848 the [[Reform Party (pre-Confederation)|Reformers]] were again returned to power, and Baldwin and Lafontaine formed their second administration on March 11 and carried numerous important reforms, including the Amnesty Act which offered pardons to all those involved in the Rebellions of 1837–8, the creation of a secular [[University of Toronto]], and the introduction of municipal government. Their bravest achievement was to shepherd the Rebellion Losses Bill through Parliament in 1849. It sparked Orange riots, and the burning of the Parliament buildings as much of Europe was similarly engulfed in a [[Revolutions of 1848|wave of republican revolutions]] and counter-revolutions.

=== Reform transformed ===
{{main|Ontario Liberal Party}}
The Baldwinite reformers were not a political party. With their primary aim achieved, the centre could no longer hold. Internal dissensions soon began to appear, and in 1851 Baldwin resigned. The special struggle leading to his resignation was an attempt to abolish the [[Court of Chancery of Upper Canada]], whose constitution was due to a measure introduced by Baldwin in 1849. The attempt, though defeated, had been supported by a majority of the representatives from Upper Canada, and Baldwin's fastidious conscience took it as a vote of confidence. A deeper reason was his inability to approve of the advanced views of the Radicals, or "[[Clear Grits]]," as they came to be called. On seeking re-election in York, he declined to give any pledge on the burning question of the [[Clergy Reserves]] and was defeated. In 1853 the Liberal-Conservative party, formed in 1854 by a coalition, attempted to bring him out as a candidate for the upper house, which was at this date elective. Though he had broken with the advanced reformers, Baldwin could not approve of the tactics of their opponents and refused to stand.

He died on 9 December 1858 in [[Spadina House|Spadina]] aged 54. Even those who most strongly opposed his measures admitted the purity and unselfishness of his motives. After the concession of responsible government, he devoted himself to bringing about a good understanding between the English and French-speaking inhabitants of [[Canada]], and his memory is held as dear among the French Canadians as in his native province of [[Ontario]].

== Legacy ==
{{external media |width =180px | float =right | video1 ='''[https://www.historicacanada.ca/productions/minutes/baldwin-lafontaine "Baldwin & LaFontaine"]''' – [[Historica Canada]]. - [[Heritage Minutes]] (1:01 min) }}
John Ralston Saul pointed out in the inaugural [[LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium]], that “we have killed in political strife among ourselves less than a hundred citizens – most of them on a single day at Batoche,” Saskatchewan, during the [[North-West Rebellion|Riel Rebellion]]. “The first measure of any citizen-based culture” he adds, “must not be its rhetoric or myths or leaders or laws but how few of its citizens it kills.” This non-violent tradition we owe to Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, who refused to abandon principle, and who walked away from retribution.{{sfn|Saul|2006|p=10}}

[[Baldwin Steps]], a series of stairs from his father's [[Spadina House]] at Austin Terrace to Davenport Road, is named after Baldwin.

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|20em}}

;References
* {{cite book |last=Careless |first=J.M.S. |title=The Union of the Canadas: The Growth of Canadian Institutions 1841-1857 |year=1967 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=9780771019128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dUUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP1 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Morgan |editor-first=Henry James |editor-link=Henry James Morgan |title=Types of Canadian women and of women who are or have been connected with Canada |location=Toronto, Ontario |date=1903 |publisher=William Briggs |url=https://archive.org/details/typesofcanadianw01morguoft/page/21 }}
* {{cite book |last=McNairn |first=Jeffrey |title=The Capacity to Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada 1791-1854 |url={{google books|T_A3pZQrHzIC|plainurl=yes|page=237}} |year=2000 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=978-0-80204-360-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Patterson |first=Graeme |chapter=Early Compact Groups in the Politics of York |editor-last1=Keane |editor-first1=David |editor-first2=Colin |editor-last2=Read |title=Old Ontario: essays in honour of J.M.S. Careless |url={{google books|3xA8wdxvMjEC|plainurl=yes}} |year=1989 |publisher=Dundurn Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=978-1-55002-060-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Romney |first=Paul |title=Getting it Wrong: How Canadians Forgot Their Past and Imperilled Confederation |url={{google books|gOqcacMkvX4C|plainurl=yes}} |year=1999 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=978-0-80208-105-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Saul |first=John Ralston |title=Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Toronto, Ontario |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-67087-099-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKkRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PP1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Saul |first=John Ralston |title=Dialogue on Democracy: The LaFontaine-Baldwin Lectures |year=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Toronto, Ontario |editor-first=Rudyard |editor-last=Griffiths |isbn=978-0-14305-428-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Saul |first=John Ralston |title=Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin |series=Extraordinary Canadians |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=978-0-6700-6732-9 }} [https://archive.org/details/louishippolytela0000saul online]
* {{cite book |last=Schrauwers |first=Albert |title=Union is Strength: W.L. Mackenzie, the Children of Peace, and the Emergence of Joint Stock Democracy in Upper Canada |year=2009 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=978-0-8020-9927-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Peter J. |chapter=The Ideological Origins of Canadian Confederation |title=Canada's Origins: Liberal, Tory or Republican |editor-first1=Janet |editor-last1=Ajzenstat |editor-first2=Peter J. |editor-last2=Smith |year=1995 |publisher=Carleton University Press |isbn=0-88629-274-3 |location=Ottawa, Ontario }}
* {{cite book |last=Stagg |first=Ronald J. |title=The Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada |year=1985 |publisher=Champlain Society/Carleton University Press |location=Ottawa, Ontario |isbn=978-0-77358-406-8 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Whebell |first=C.F.J. |title=The Upper Canada District Councils Act of 1841 and British Colonial Policy |journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |date=July 1989 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=185–209 |doi=10.1080/03086538908582787}}
* {{cite book |last=White |first=Graham |title=Government and Politics of Ontario |url={{google books|3mVfu8k_1iQC|plainurl=yes}} |orig-year=1997 |date=2001 |edition=fifth |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=0-8020-7873-7 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=The Baldwins and The Great Experiment |first1=R.M |last1=Baldwin |first2=J. |last2=Baldwin |publisher=Longmans Canada |date=1969 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFdnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP1}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Baldwin, Robert |volume=3 |pages=247-248}}
* {{cite journal |title="The waste that lies before me": The Public and the Private Worlds of Robert Baldwin |url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/hp/1983/v18/n1/030905ar.pdf |first1=Michael S. |last1=Cross |first2=Robert L. |last2=Fraser |journal=Historical Papers |volume=18 |issue=1 |date=1983 |pages=164–183|doi=10.7202/030905ar |doi-access=free }}
* Cross, Michael S. ''A Biography of Robert Baldwin: The Morning-Star of Memory'' (2012) [https://www.amazon.com/Biography-Robert-Baldwin-Morning-Star-Memory/dp/0195449541/ excertpt]
* {{cite DCB |title=Baldwin, Robert |first=Michael S. |last=Cross |first2=Robert Lochiel |last2=Fraser |volume=8 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/baldwin_robert_8E.html}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Robert Baldwin |first1=Michael S. |last1=Cross |first2=Robert L. |last2=Fraser |orig-year=January 21, 2008 |date=July 24, 2015 |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online
 |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-baldwin}}
* {{cite book |last=Leacock |first=S. |title=Baldwin, LaFontaine, Hincks: Responsible Government |url={{google books|i3UOAAAAYAAJ|plainurl=yes}} |location=Toronto, Ontario |publisher=Monrang and Co. |date=1907}}
* Siegel, David. "Robert Baldwin and Responsible Local Government in Ontario." ''Journal of Canadian Studies'' 53.2 (2019): 296–317.
* {{cite book |editor-last=Stewart |editor-first=Yolande |title=My Dear Friend - Letters of Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin |publisher=Plum Hollow |date=1978}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=George E. |title=The Life of Robert Baldwin: A Study in the Struggle for Responsible Government |publisher=Ryerson Press |location=Toronto, Ontario |date=1933}}

== External links ==
* [http://rebuildinghope.wordpress.com Rebuilding Hope: Celebrating our social-democratic heritage]
* [[LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium]]
* See J. C. Dent, ''Canadian Portrait Gallery'' (1880). His life, by the Hon. Geo. W. Ross, is included in ''The Makers of Canada series'' (Toronto).
* {{Quebec MNA biography|baldwin-robert-1829|Robert Baldwin}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070317062451/http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10140 Historica's Heritage Minute video docudrama about political reformers Baldwin and LaFontaine.] ([[Adobe Flash Player]].)
* [http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=375 Robert Baldwin Born 200 Years Ago] Web article produced by the [[Law Society of Upper Canada Archives]]
*[https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll/144/DESCRIPTION_WEB/WEB_DESC_DET?SESSIONSEARCH&exp=sisn%20143 William Baldwin family fonds], Archives of Ontario
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|
 before=[[Henry Sherwood]]|
 title=[[Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada]] - Canada West|
 years=1848–1851|
 after=Sir [[Francis Hincks]]
}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|
 before=none|
 title=Leader of the [[Reform Party (pre-Confederation)|Reform Party of Upper Canada]]|
 years=1839?-1857|
 after=[[George Brown (Canadian politician)|George Brown]]<br/>as ''de facto leader of the Liberal Party of Canada''}}
{{s-end}}
{{Canadian First Ministers}}
{{Ontario Attorneys General}}
{{Members of the Reform Movement (Upper Canada)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Robert}}
[[Category:1804 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:Premiers of the Province of Canada]]
[[Category:Attorneys-general of the Province of Canada]]
[[Category:Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto]]
[[Category:Canadian Anglicans]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Anglo-Irish descent]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Upper Canada and Canada West]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of the Province of Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:Politicians from Toronto]]
[[Category:Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada]]