Legislative Council of Upper Canada

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada
Type
Type
History
Founded 1791
Disbanded 1841
Preceded by Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec
Succeeded by Legislative Council of the Province of Canada
Part of a series on the
History of
Pre-Confederation
Ontario
Timeline
First Nations
Pays d'en Haut 1500s–1763
Province of Quebec 1763–1791
Upper Canada 1791–1841
Canada West 1841–1867
Ontario 1867–present
Upper Canada Topics
Province of Canada Topics
Province of Ontario topics
Ontario portal

The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist of at least seven members. Members were appointed for life but could be dropped for non-attendance. The first nine members of the council were appointed on 12 July 1792. The speaker was usually the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. The Legislative Council was dissolved on 10 February 1841 when Upper and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada. Some members were reappointed to the Legislative Council of the united Province.

Unlike the other three provinces that would initially make up the Dominion of Canada, a provincial Legislative Council was not re-established for Ontario when the province entered Confederation in 1867.

List of Members of the Legislative Council

Member Town From To Notes
James Baby Sandwich 12 July 1792 19 February 1833 Died in office
Richard Cartwright Kingston 12 July 1792 27 July 1815 Died in office
Richard Duncan Williamsburgh 12 July 1792 1805 Dropped due to non-attendance; returned to the United States and died in Schenectady, New York in 1819
Alexander Grant, Sr. York 12 July 1792 May 1813 Died in office
Robert Hamilton Niagara 12 July 1792 8 March 1809 Died in office
John Munro Eastern District 12 July 1792 October, 1800 Died in office
William Osgoode York 12 July 1792 24 February 1794 Became Chief Justice of Lower Canada 1794–1801; retired and died in London, Ontario
William Robertson Sandwich 12 July 1792 4 November 1792 Resigned and left for Montreal in 1797; moved to London England 1800 and died there in 1806
Peter Russell York 12 July 1792 30 September 1808 Died in office
Æneas Shaw York 19 June 1794 6 February 1814 Died in office
Jacob Mountain1
(1 December 1749–16 June 1825)		 Quebec City 1 July 1794 25 June 1825 Bishop of Quebec and founder of the Church of England in the Canadas; died in office
John Elmsley, Sr. York 10 December 1796 13 October 1802 Became Chief Justice of Lower Canada after William Osgoode; died in Montreal, April 1805
John McGill York 10 June 1797 31 December 1834 Died in office
Henry Allcock York 4 January 1803 1 July 1805 Moved to Lower Canada as member of the Executive Council of Lower Canada and later as Speaker of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada; died in office at Quebec City in 1808
Thomas Scott York 7 August 1806 29 July 1824 Died in office
Thomas Talbot Port Talbot September 1809 10 February 1841 Died in London, Ontario in 1853
William Claus
(8 September 1765–11 November 1826)		 Niagara 1 February 1812 11 November 1826 Died of cancer while in office; Indian Department official, Justice of the Peace
Thomas Clark Chippawa 16 November 1815 13 October 1835 Died in office
William Dickson Niagara 16 November 1815 10 February 1841 Retired to Niagara and died there in 1846
Thomas Fraser Ernestown 16 November 1815 1819 Status unknown after 1819; died in South Dundas, Ontario in 1821
Neil McLean Cornwall 16 November 1815 Not applicable Never attended
William Dummer Powell York 21 March 1816 6 September 1834 Died in office
John Strachan York 10 July 1820 10 February 1841 Resigned office due to the Act of Union 1840, but remained an active member of the Family Compact
Angus McIntosh 2 Sandwich 11 July 1820 24 July 1833 Died in office
Joseph Wells York 12 July 1820 10 February 1841 Bursar of King's College
Duncan Cameron York 12 July 1820 9 September 1838 Died in office
George Herchmer Markland York 14 July 1820 1838 Resigned
George Crookshank
(23 July 1773–21 July 1859)		 York 1 January 1821 10 February 1841 Commissariat of supplies for Fort York; Assistant Commissary General 1814–1819, Receiver General of Public Accounts (1819–1820); Director of the Bank of Upper Canada 1822–1827
John Henry Dunn York 1 March 1822 10 February 1841 Became Receiver General for the Province of Canada in 1841, and elected to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada 1841–1843 for Toronto
Thomas Ridout York 11 October 1825 8 February 1829 Died in office
William Allan York 12 October 1825 10 February 1841 Retired from politics after the Act of Union of 1840, and died in 1853
William Campbell York 10 October 1826 18 January 1834 Died in office
Peter Robinson York 6 January 1829 8 July 1838 Died in office
Charles Jones Brockville 7 January 1829 21 August 1840 Died in office
James Gordon 3 Amherstburg 8 January 1829 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
John Beverley Robinson York 1 January 1830 10 February 1841 Provincial Secretary 1817–1838, became a Baron in 1854, and died in 1863
John Kirby Kingston 1831 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed to the Council after the union; died in Kingston in 1846
Augustus Warren Baldwin York 26 January 1831 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Zacheus Burnham Cobourg 26 January 1831 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed after the Act of Union, and died in Cobourg in 1857
John Elmsley, Jr.
(19 May 1801–8 May 1863)		 York 26 January 1831 10 February 1841 Royal Navy Captain, entrepreneur, and philanthropist; supported Catholic education in York/Toronto; son of the second Chief Justice of Upper Canada
Alexander Macdonell Eastern District 27 January 1831 10 February 1841 Chaplain of the Glengarry Fencibles; Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec; Bishop of Kingston; founder of Regiopolis College, Kingston
Walter Boswell Cobourg 29 January 1831 10 February 1841 Royal Navy Captain, church warden of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Cobourg
John Hamilton Queenston 29 January 1831 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Peter Adamson Esquesing 2 February 1831 10 February 1841 Peninsular War veteran, general, and mill owner
James Kerby
(1785–20 June 1854)		 Kingston 2 March 1831 10 February 1841 Militia captain (Incorporated Militia), businessman, justice of the peace, and mill owner
James Crooks West Flamborough 16 March 1831 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Alexander Macdonell Kingston 12 October 1831 14 January 1840 Died in office
Alexander Grant, Jr.4 Brockville 19 November 1831 10 February 1841 Excused
Arthur Lloyd March 6 December 1831 10 February 1841 Colonel, Napoleonic War veteran
Abraham Nelles4 Grimsby 5 January 1832 10 February 1841 Reverend and missionary
Thomas Alexander Stewart
(10 June 1786–6 September 1847)		 Peterborough 20 November 1833 10 February 1841 Settler, justice of the peace, and mill owner
William Morris Perth 22 January 1836 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
George Hamilton Hamilton 23 January 1836 20 February 1836 Died in office
John Macaulay Kingston 23 January 1836 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Archibald McLean Cornwall 23 January 1836 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed; later served as in the Court of Common Pleas 1850–1862, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench for Upper Canada 1862–1863 and judge of the Court of Error and Appeal 1863–1865; he died in Toronto in 1865
Philip VanKoughnet Cornwall 23 January 1836 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed; later chairman of the Canadian Board of Government Arbitrators 1870–1873
John Simcoe Macaulay Toronto 9 February 1839 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed; served on Toronto City Council 1841–1842; retired to England in 1845
Jonas Jones
(19 May 1791–30 July 1848)		 Toronto 27 February 1839 10 February 1841 Barrister and judge (Prescott and Russell, Leeds and Grenville and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry)[1]
Adam Fergusson Gore District 27 February 1839 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Thomas Radcliff
(17 April 1794–6 June 1841)		 Adelaide 27 February 1839 10 February 1841 Peninsular War veteran and militia officer; later as magistrate and customs collector (died June 1841 before assuming post)[2]
Robert Baldwin Sullivan Toronto 27 February 1839 10 February 1841 Provincial Secretary 1838–1841; not re-appointed to the Council after the Union; appointed to the Queen's Bench in 1848
Robert Charles Wilkins Prince Edward 14 March 1839 10 February 1841 Owner of mercantile firm Shuter and Wilkins
John McDonald Gananoque 20 March 1839 10 February 1841 Appointed to the Council after the Union in 1841, but removed for non-attendance in 1848
Henry Graham Bathurst District 19 April 1839 Not applicable Never attended
Isaac Fraser Ernestown 16 July 1839 10 February 1841 Colonel of the Addington Militia, and justice of the peace
Peter Boyle de Blaquière Woodstock 3 December 1839 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
Alexander Fraser Eastern District 3 December 1839 10 February 1841 Re-appointed
John McGillivray Williamstown 3 December 1839 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed; served as a justice of the peace; died near Williamstown (South Glengarry, Ontario) in 1855
John Willson Gore District 3 December 1839 10 February 1841 Not re-appointed; died in Saltfleet Township in 1860

Notes:

  1. Jacob Mountain was the Bishop of Quebec; he never attended a session but was not dropped.
  2. Angus McIntosh never attended a session but was not dropped; he returned to Scotland in 1831.
  3. James Gordon was re-appointed to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada in October 1845.
  4. Alexander Grant, Jr. and Abraham Nelles did not attend after 1832.

Speakers

The Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench was usually the Speaker of the Council:

Buildings housing the Legislative Council

The Legislative Council sat in the same building as the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada:

Meeting Places

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Jonas
  2. ↑ Radcliff, Thomas

External links