Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official ...

Indies. In Lord Melbourne’s ministry Grey became Secretary for War in 1835 but
was critical over how the ministry conducted colonial policies. 57
During the Canadian crisis, he was frustrated by the cabinet’s refusal to allow
Lord Gosford’s Commission of Inquiry to negotiate a resolution over the
constitutional deadlock in Lower Canada. When the Canadian rebellions broke out in
1837, Grey’s irritation with the British response of coercive legislation rather than a
constructive policy of reconciliation led him to resign in 1839. 58 Britain’s governance
of Canada was widely debated in the late 1830s. New proposals were introduced to
reconcile Canadian colonists’ (and later other white settler colonies’) aspirations for
greater autonomy while preserving the unity of the Empire. Lord Durham’s theory of
“responsible government” was recommended as a solution in removing the existing
national animosities and political discontent between English and French
Canadians. 59
Durham proposed the Colonial Governor adopt a role equivalent to the Crown
in Britain and remain above politics. The power of the Executive in all internal
administration would be transferred to a cabinet possessing the confidence of the
Assembly. Durham further proposed London not rule directly but should safeguard
the imperial veto over a list of subjects important for Britain and the colonies, such
56 Boroughs P., “Grey Henry George, third Earl of Grey (1802-1894)”, Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography, (Oxford, 2004). He championed the Howick Act of 1831 for Canada, which attempted to
resolve the conflict between the executive and legislative by surrendering control over certain crown
revenues to the assemblies in return for civil list cover of official salaries. Morrell W. P, British
Colonial Policy in the Age of Peel and Russell, pp. 47-88.
57 Manning H. T., “Who runs the British Empire 1830-1850?”
58 Manning H. T., “The colonial policy of the Whig ministers 1830-37”, pp. 203-36.
59 Cell J. W., British Colonial Administration in the mid-nineteenth century: the policy-making
process, (New Haven, 1970), p. 95; Martin G., The Durham Report and British Policy, pp. 53-69.
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