BIOGRAPHY:
Sir John Gaspard LeMarchant
1803-1874

 

The following text is taken from an official biography of soldier-statesman Sir John Gaspard LeMarchant. Like many of his era, LeMarchant was an amateur artist who painted for his own pleasure. Happily for us, he just happened to paint very well. The works available through the Savageau Gallery are from the artist's notebook. While the locations portrayed are often identified by pencil notations in the margins, these pieces are unsigned and undated. Their charm, however, is undiminished.

John Gaspard LeMarchant was the descendant of the distinguished Guernsey family. Educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he entered the British army at 17 and purchased his way up the ranks, spending some £10,000 for commissions. This investment fueled his promotion as one of the youngest officers ever to command a British regiment.

After serving in Spain and the Cape Colony, in 1846 LeMarchant was offered the governorship of Newfoundland. He accepted and arrived in St. John's in April 1847. LeMarchant had no prior experience in colonial administration and was an unpopular governor. He left Newfoundland in 1852 to become lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. In 1859, he became governor of Malta, and from 1865 to 1868 he was in Madras. He died in London on February 6, 1874.

Exerpted from www.heritage.nf.ca/govhouse/governors/g45.html

Images:
Top: Sir John Gaspard LeMarchant,
from www.heritage.nf.ca/govhouse/governors/g45.html
Middle: Portland
Bottom: Citadel Albino