Colonial Despatches

George Douglas Campbell was born 30 April 1823 in Ardencaple Castle, Dunbartonshire. Although not born an heir, he became the eighth Duke of Argyll.1 Campbell served as Lord Privy Seal from 1852 to 1855 under the leadership of Lord Aberdeen; then as Postmaster General from 1855 to 1858 under Lord Palmerston.2 Campbell served as Lord Privy Seal again from 1859 to 1866.3 Campbell was known as a liberal politician and supported the position of the Northerners in the American Civil War.4 Campbell advocated against slavery, and met Harriet Beecher Stowe, an American Abolitionist, in London.5 Campbell was appointed to his most senior position, Secretary of State to India under Queen Victoria, and served from 1868 to 1874.6

Campbell was offered as a character reference for P. Cadell, who was seeking employment in British Columbia in 1860.7 Cadell wrote to Palmerston, asking to be appointed as the Superintendent of Mining Activity in British Columbia.8

Apart from his political career, Campbell was a well-respected geologist.9 Campbell also published his compilation, Burdens of Belief and Other Poems in 1894.10 His son, John Campbell ninth Duke of Argyll, would later become Canada’s fourth Governor General.11 Campbell died 24 April 1900 at his home at Inveraray Castle, England.12

• 1. H.C.G. Matthew. Campbell, George Douglas, Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Ibid.
• 6. Ibid.
• 7. Cadell to Palmerston, 2 May 1860, 6708, CO 60/9, p. 297.
• 8. Ibid.
• 9. Matthew, Campbell.
• 10. Ibid.
• 11. Ibid.
• 12. Ibid.