Richard Downes Jackson

Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Downes Jackson KCB (1777 – June 9, 1845), born at Petersfield in the English county of Hampshire, was Administrator of Canada West and Canada East (1841–1842) until the arrival of Sir Charles Bagot who took the position of Governor General of the Province of Canada.

Military career

Jackson was commissioned as an ensign in the Coldstream Guards on 9 July 1794. After seeing action during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars. He fought at the Siege of Cádiz and the Battle of Barrosa during the Peninsular War and was knighted on 12 April 1815. He became deputy quartermaster general in 1820, General Officer Commanding Northern District in 1836 and Commander-in-Chief, North America in 1839. After that he was Administrator of Canada West and Canada East from 1841 to 1842.