In 1848, Sir Edmund Walker Head was the first civilian appointed lieutenant governor of New Brunswick and presided over the introduction of responsible government to the colony. He ably administered New Brunswick affairs until he became governor general of British North America in 1854. In this post he influenced Queen Victoria's choice of Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada. Following his appointment as governor general he became a strong champion of Confederation, a cause he had been advocating for some years. He returned to his native England in 1861.