John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham

John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham,, also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America. A leading reformer, Durham played a major role in the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832. He later served as ambassador to Russia. He was a founding member and chairman of the New Zealand Company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. George Woodcock says that he was, "Proud, wayward, immensely rich, with romantic good looks and an explosive temper." He was one of those "natural rebels who turn their rebellious energies to constructive purposes. Both at home and abroad he became a powerful exponent of the early nineteenth-century liberal spirit."

12 April 1792

Born on the same birth day (12 April): Aleksey Dmitrik • Amedeo Calliari • Bill Bryden • Elena Grosheva • Fabian Hamilton • Felice Giardini • Fran Halsall • Ginka Zagorcheva • Greg Child • Jennifer Morrison • Jeremy Beadle • Joyce Banda • Louis Beel • Nicholas Brendon • Nils-Olav Johansen

Born in the same month (April 1792): Francisco de Paula Santander • Thaddeus Stevens • Thomas Romney Robinson