thumb|Sir Charles Bagot ([[Francis William Wilkin, 1825)]]
Sir Charles Bagot, (23 September 1781 – 19 May 1843) was a British politician, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as ambassador to the United States, Russian Empire, and the Netherlands. He served as the second Governor General of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1843.
Early life and family
thumb|Lady Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley-Pole "Lady Bagot" by [[John Hoppner, 1807]]
Bagot was the second son of William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot, of Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire, and the Hon. Elizabeth Louisa St. John, daughter of Viscount St. John, of Lydiard Park, Wiltshire. He was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford. He entered Lincoln's Inn, where he studied law, but left and returned to Oxford to complete his master's degree.
His marriage to the wealthy Lady Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley-Pole, the niece of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and other Bagot family connections made possible his subsequent diplomatic career.
Indigenous schools
In 1842 Bagot initiated a major review of government policies and expenditures related to Indigenous peoples in Canada East and Canada West, appointing Rawson W. Rawson, John Davidson and William Hepburn as report commissioners. Completed in 1844, the final report, titled the Report on the affairs of the Indians in Canada, included a call for the introduction of industrial schools to address the noted failure of day schools to effectively keep Indigenous children from the influence of their parents and is regarded as a foundational document in the rationale for establishing the Canadian Indian residential school system.
University administrator
He served as Chancellor of King's College, (now the University of Toronto), 1842–1843.
Death
Having resigned his governor general's office in January 1843, Bagot died four months later at the vice-regal residence, Alwington House, Alwington, Kingston, too ill to return to the United Kingdom. Bagot's library was sold at auction by Messrs Evans in London on 20 June 1844 (and two following days); a copy of the catalogue (which contained Audubon's Birds of America) is at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.149(10)).
Legacy
Today, he is chiefly remembered for his role in developing the Residential school system, his contributions to the development of the "undefended border" between the United States and Canada, and for fostering more cooperative and positive political relations between the two main colonial groups of British and French settlers.
Bagot Street, a main thoroughfare in downtown Kingston, is named in his memory.
Mount Bagot, a mountain on the Canada-US border, is named in his honor.
Family
thumb|right|Lady Mary Charlotte Ann Bagot from a miniature by Hoppner, R.A.
thumb|Monument of his daughter [[Emily Georgiana Finch-Hatton, Countess of Winchilsea|Emily Georgiana, Countess of Winchilsea, wife of 10th Earl of Winchilsea.]]
Bagot married Lady Mary Charlotte Anne Wellesley, daughter of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington on 22 July 1806. Together they had:
- Colonel Charles Bagot (1808–1881), m. Sophia Percy, granddaughter of Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley
- Emily Georgiana Bagot (1809–1848), m. George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea
- Henrietta Maria Bagot (1815–1844), m. Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey
- Georgiana Augusta Bagot (1818–1851)
- George Talbot Bagot (1820–1907), m. Charlotte Blair, daughter of W T Blair, Mayor of Bath
- Colonel Alexander Bagot (1822–1874), m. Gertrude Letitia Hallifax
- Wilhelmina Frederica Bagot (1826–1852), m. Henry Bagot, son of her uncle, Richard Bagot
The family accompanied their parents to Canada, on Bagot's appointment as Governor-General of British North America on 12 January 1842. After her husband's death at Kingston, on 18 May 1843, she accompanied his remains to England. She died in London on 2 February 1845.