Napier Christie Burton (1758-1835)
General Napier Christie Burton M.P., of Hull Bank, Beverley, Yorkshire
Born in New York, he was the eldest surviving son and heir of his father who was one of the largest landowners in Quebec. He was educated at Eton, during which time he was invited to Windsor Castle by King George III as a compliment to his father. He joined the Guards in the British Army and retired as his father had before him with the rank of General and Colonel-in-Command of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He fought in the American of War of Independence. In 1784, he took the surname of Burton by Royal Licence following the death of his wife's brother, Ralph Burton. From 1799 to 1802, he was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, though in consequence of his inheritance he was granted special permission to live in Montreal. He made arrangements to settle there permanently, but when his wife died he had to return to England to get their affairs in order and never returned, entrusting his seigneuries to a land agent. He kept a townhouse in London and a country estate at Beverley, Yorkshire, for which he was the Member of Parliament from 1796 to 1803. On his death, he left his Canadian property to his younger half-brother, William, who built the Christie Manor at Quebec. He had two sons (both died unmarried) and two daughters (Mrs Clitherow, whose husband was also a Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, and Mrs Peters of Betchworth Castle).
