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House of Assembly of Upper Canada

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House of Assembly
of Upper Canada
Logo
Type
Type
History
FoundedSeptember 17, 1792 (1792-09-17)
DisbandedFebruary 10, 1840 (1840-02-10)
Succeeded byLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

The House of Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected lower house of the Parliament of Upper Canada, the legislature of the province of Upper Canada in British North America between 1792 and 1841.

Upper Canada and its government institutions were created when the old Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canadas by the Constitutional Act of 1791.[1][a] The act laid out the basic structure of the colonial government, including the Parliament of Upper Canada and its two chambers. Despite being the chamber made up of elected representatives, the assembly had limited authorities. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lieutenant Governor, Executive Council, and Legislative Council. As observed by Earl of Durham in his consequential report, "(t)his veto they used without much scruple."[3]

The initial sixteen members were elected in Upper Canada's first general election held in August 1792. Voting franchise was only extended to land-owning males, and remained so throughout the province's existence. The first session of the assembly convened on 17 September 1792[4] in newly renamed Newark, Upper Canada (previously known as Butlersburg, located at modern day Niagara-on-the-Lake), the innaugral provincial capital. The assembly was dissolved in 1796 and reconvened for twelve more sessions between 1797 and 1840 in modest buildings in York, the new capital of Upper Canada. Following the Battle of York in 1813, American troops carried out various acts of arson and plundering including setting fire to the buildings of the Legislative Assembly.

Context of political divisions

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Following the war, the executive and legislative councils became increasingly dominated by the Family Compact, an oligarchic clique of wealthy individuals emerged in the 1810s revolving primarily around John Strachan, the Anglican archdeacon and a member of the powerful Executive Council of Upper Canada. The compact was deeply opposed to American republicanism and favoured full establishment for the Anglican church in Upper Canada. Their increasingly authoritarian style of governance and disregard for the will of the Legislative Assembly led to demands for government that was more responsible to the electorate and eventually the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Opposing the Family Compact were initially an assortment of anti-establishment members occasionally backed by leaders of other protestant denominations, but it did not gain strength until a more formal group of reformers emerged, initially led by William Warren Baldwin starting 1820s and then by William Lyon Mackenzie in the 1830s.

The 1840 Act of Union united Upper and Lower Canada into the single Province of Canada and, from this point until Confederation in 1867, a joint parliament was held for the united province.

List of parliaments

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Over the fifty-year lifespan of Upper Canada, its parliament convened over thirteen parliamentary terms.[5]

ParlElectionConvenedDissolved Sess.Mems.Speaker Lt. Governor
1stAugust 1792Sept. 17, 1792July 1, 1796516 Captain John McDonell John Graves
Simcoe
2ndAugust 1796 June 1, 1797July 7, 1800416 David William Smith (1797–1800)
Samuel Street (from June 5, 1800
Peter
Hunter
3rdJuly 1800May 28, 1801May 14, 1804419 David William Smith (1st & 2nd sess.)
Richard Beasley (3rd & 4th sess.)
4thMay 1804 Feb. 2, 1805May 21, 1808419 Alexander Macdonell
Francis
Gore
5thMay 1808Feb. 2, 1809May 1, 1812425Samuel Street
6thJune 1812July 27, 1812April 18, 1816525 Allan McLean
7thJuly 1816 Feb. 4, 1817May 20, 1820525 Allan McLean
Sir Peregrine
Maitland
8thJuly 1820Jan. 31, 1821June 22, 1824440 Levius Peters Sherwood
9thJuly 1824Jan. 13, 1825June 24, 1828444 John Wilson
10thJuly 1828Jan. 8, 1829 [b]Sept. 8, 1830248Marshall Spring Bidwell Sir John
Colborne[c]
11thOctober 1830Jan. 7, 1831Sept. 1, 1834452 Archibald McLean
12thOctober 1834Jan. 15, 1835 [d]May 28, 1836 261Marshall Spring Bidwell
13thJune 1836Nov. 8, 1836[e]Feb 10, 1840 562Archibald McLean (1st sess.)
Allan MacNab (from 2nd sess.)[f]

The 7th and the 10th parliaments were dissolved upon the demise of the Crown, respectively the death of King George III in 1820 and of his son King George IV in 1830. Both occurred decades before the operation of transatlantic telegraph, therefore the demise were not formally proclaimed in the province until weeks after the actual death of the monarchs. By the time the news of the passing of George III arrived, the 7th Parliament had already prorogued its fifth session,[8] so the proclamation caused no real change to the parliamentary cycle. It did however prompted a formal communications from the Government House in Quebec to the Montreal Herald confirming the validity of all legislative actions taken before the formal notice of the demise.[9] The demise of George IV in the summer of 1830 triggered the general election in October that year.

The 12th Parliament was dissolved early by Sir Francis Bond Head when upon its refusal to provide supply in protest of Head's disregard of the advice of the Reform Party executive councillors. With Head's overt support, conservatives secured a working majority in the 13th Parliament, and proceed to pre-empt the operation of the demise of the Crown with legislation preventing dissolution, enacted by Head in March 1937, just in time to forestall dissolution upon the death of William IV three months later.[10][7] The tactical victory was short-lived and contributed further to discontent among reformers. Events eventually led to the armed rebellion starting in December 1837. Head was recalled by the Whig government in London soon after.[11]

Composition

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While the Constitution Act of 1791 provided the organizational structure of Upper Canada's legislature, it did not prescribed either administrative or electoral divisions for the new province, but left them in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor.[12] The original county designations for Upper Canada and the definition of the sixteen electoral divisions for the 1st Parliament of Upper Canada were both prescribed in a royal proclamation issued by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe on July 16, 1792.[13]

The proclamation also introduced the term "riding", the Canadian colloquial term for electoral district. The "ridings" were however not initially intended for electoral purposes, but instead as judicial districts within three crucial counties — Glengarry (the eastern most county, bordering Quebec), Lincoln (where the provincial capital was located) and York (where the capital would move to in a few years) — "for the speedy execution of justice".[13] Of the eight ridings prescribed in the proclamation, only four were electoral districts in the 1st Parliament. It was not until the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada, convened in 1834, that every defined riding had its own representative. Even then, riding seats only accounted for eight of the House of Assembly's sixty-one seats,[14] with counties accounting for forty-seven of the remaining fifty-five seats. As the population of the counties grew, more and more counties were further divided for administrative reasons. The creation of more ridings naturally led to the increasing use of the term in an electoral context.

Evolution of composition

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The House of Assembly was expanded to nineteen seats in the 3rd and 4th Parliament,[15][16] and to twenty-five in the 5th to 7th parliament.[17] There was no discernable approach being consistent applied in the apportionment of seats in these early parliaments. The seats allocation of seats in the Home District were particularly erratic. For example, the of the 3rd and 4th parliaments consists of a eclectic mix of seat arrangements.

That changed in the lead up to the election in July 1820. A legislation was passed to provide for representation for every county with population of over a thousand, and two members for those with over four thousand. It also created representation for two towns, York and Kingston.[18] The assembly therefore expanded after every election from the 8th to the 13th Parliament. The change of composition of the assembly shed some interesting insights of the population development of the province in its five decades of existence.

Parl.Seats District (1792) Seat Type
Western Home Midland Eastern Single Duo RidingTownShared
1st, 2nd163.522%3.522%3.522%5.534%4 24-6 [i]
3rd, 4th19421%526%421%632%6 4--9 [j]
5th–7th25520%728%624%728%9 26-8 [k]
8th40 820%1025%1128%1128%7 22425 [l]
9th44 920%1227%1125%1227%6 30233 [m]
10th48 919%1327%1327%1327%4 36233 [n]
11th52 917%1427%1325%1631%3 40243 [o]
12th611118%1830%1321%1931%34486-
13th621219%2032%1118%1931%34487-

Incomplete Records

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During the War of 1812, American troops captured the provincial capital following the Battle of York and carried out various acts of arson and plundering of both state and civilian property from April 28 to April 30, 1813. The Palace of Parliament, then home to the legislature, and the Government House, home to the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, were two of the prominent targets that were set on fire.

Some of the official records of the Parliament of Upper Canada were either destroyed or removed in the process. While some of the records have been returned by order of American military command, recovered through various means, or recreated from copies of fragments sent to other offices and depositories, certain portions remain missing. No copy of the journals of the House of Assembly for the years 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1809, the 2nd Session of 1812, 1813, and 1815 are known to have survived.[19][20]

Location and host structure

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This section is an excerpt from Parliament of Upper Canada § Location and host structure.[edit]
The Parliament of Upper Canada convened in the capital of the province, which was located in Newark (today's Niagara-on-the-lake) during the 1st Parliament, and was relocated to the Town of York, later renamed Toronto in 1834, for the remainder twelve parliaments.

Various locations were identified as being the site for the Parliament of Upper Canada while the provincial capital was located in Newark (today's Niagara-on-the-lake). Once the capital was moved to the town of York (today's Toronto), location of the assembly were more definitively documented.

Years Location Building & notes [21]
1792-1796Newark[p] Various mentioned, including:
  • the Anchorage
  • Freemanson's Hall
  • Navy Hall (Official residence of LG Simcoe)
1796-1813Town of York
(until 1834)

Toronto		 Palace of Parliament, Front and Parliament Sts. (destroyed on 27 April 1813 by arson by American soldiers)
1814 (once)Jordan's York Holel, between King and Front Sts.[q]
1815-1820The Lawn, Wellington and York Sts. (Personal residence of Chief Justice William Henry Draper)
1820-1824Upper Canada's Second Parliament Building, Front & Parliament Sts.[r] (Destroyed by accidental fire on 30 December 1824)
1825-1828The later York General Hospital, King and Hospital[s] Sts. (Consequently delay the opening of the hospital)
1829-1832The former Court House, bordered by King/Church/Court/Toronto Sts. (South of present day location of the Courthouse Square Park)
1832-1840The later First Ontario Parliament Buildings, bordered by Front/John/Simcoe/Wellington Sts.[t] (third parliament building for Upper Canada)

The successor legislature, the Parliament of the Province of Canada, initially convened in Kingston, the capital of the newly united province, at the Alwington House, and would move numerous times in its short lifespan.[21] The capital of the Province of Canada would returned to its former home in Toronto twice, between 1849 and 1851, and again between 1855 and 1859, with Upper Canada's third parliament building, known as the First Ontario Parliament Buildings, hosting its legislature during those periods. Upon Canadian Confederation, the building would house the legislature of the Province of Ontario, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, until 1892.

Changing loyalties

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A number of members have fled to, or opted to move to, the United States, following the War of 1812 or fled to other countries following the Rebellion of 1837. This list only included those who left Canada under adverse circumstances, where their departures would reasonably be seen as for political dissention or as explicit repudiation of their allegiances to the British Crown.

See also

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Notes & References

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  1. ↑ Constitution Act 1791 was the colloquial short title commonly used in Canada, but a legally sanctioned one until 1985. The legally sanctioned short title for the act was The Clergy Endowments (Canada) Act, 1791.[2]
  2. ↑ dissolution upon demise of the Crown, King George IV
  3. ↑ enobled as Baron Seaton upon return to England
  4. ↑ Dissolution orderd by Lieutenant Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head following the assembly's refusal of supply
  5. ↑ Legislation was enacted in March 1837 to prevent dissolution of parliament upon the demise of William IV in June 1837[6][7]
  6. ↑ Henry Ruttan acting 1837-12-28 to 1838-01-24 during MacNab's absence)
  7. ↑ created a baronet upon return to England
  8. ↑ enobled as Baron Sydenham soon after the union of Upper and Lower Canadas
  9. ↑ three shared by two counties; one shared by three counties; one shared by two counties and a riding; one shared by a county and a riding
  10. ↑ three seats - (each) shared by two counties; two seats - (each) shared by three counties or ridings; four seats - two pairs of duo seat - each pair shared by three counties or ridings
  11. ↑ four seats - (each) shared by two counties; four seats - two pairs of duo seat - each pair shared by two counties or ridings
  12. ↑ one seat shared by two counties; four seats - two pairs of duo seat - each pair shared by two counties
  13. ↑ one seat shared by two counties; two seats shared by two ridings
  14. ↑ one seat shared by two counties; two seats shared by two ridings
  15. ↑ one seat shared by two counties; two seats shared by two ridings
  16. ↑ Present day Niagara-on-the-Lake
  17. ↑ Present day location of Toronto Sun Building
  18. ↑ Structure located on same plot as Palace of Parliament but further northwest (King and Berkeley)
  19. ↑ Present day Richmond Street
  20. ↑ Present day location of Metro Hall/CBC Broadcasting Centre
  21. ↑ upon reutn to Canada, elected to the 3rd to 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada

Sources

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Legislations

  • Constitution Act, 1791. Statutes of the United Kingdom. Vol. 31 George III. 1791. c. 31.
  • An Act for the better Division of this Province. Laws of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada. Vol. 38 George III. 1798. c.5.
  • An Act for the more equal Representation of the Commons of this Province in Parliament, and for the better defining the Qualification of Electors. Laws of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada. Vol. 40 George III. 1800. c.3.
  • An Act for the better Representation of the Commons of this Province in Parliament, and to repeal part of an Act passed in the fortieth year of his Majesty’s reign, entitled “an Act for the more equal representation of the Commons of this Province, and for the better defining the qualification of the Electors.”. Statutes of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada. Vol. 48 George III. 1808. c.11.
  • An Act to provide for Increasing the Representation of the Commons of this Province in the House of Assembly. Statutes of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada. Vol. 60 George III. 1820. c.2.
  • An Act to prevent the Dissolution of the Parliament of this Province, in the event of a Demise of the Crown. Statutes of the Province of Upper Canada. Vol. 7 William IV. 1837. c.17.

Parliamentary Records

  • "Journal and Proceedings of the House of Assembly of the Province of Upper Canada, 1792". Journals of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1792–1804. 1 (1792). Ontario Archives. 1909.
  • "Journal and Proceedings of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821". Journals of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, 1818 - 1821 (Tenth report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario). Ontario Archives. 1914.
  • "Journal and Proceedings of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada 1836-37". Journals of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. Robert Stanton, King's Printer. 1837.

Books and other sources

Other citations and references

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  1. ↑ UK 1791.
  2. ↑ Short Titles Act, 1896. Statutes of the United Kingdom. Vol. 59 & 60 Victoria. 1896. c. 14.
  3. ↑ (Durham_Report) Lambton, John, Earl of Durham (1839). Report on the Affairs of British North America (Report). London. p. 26.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Assembly 1792, p. 1.
  5. ↑ Froman 1984.
  6. ↑ Greer, Allan (March 1995). "1837-38: Rebellion Reconsidered". The Canadian Historical Review. 76 (1): 1–18. ISSN 0008-3755.
  7. 1 2 Upper Canada 1837.
  8. ↑ Assembly 1818, p. 262.
  9. ↑ Doughty, Arthur George, Sir; Story, Norah, eds. (1935). "Communication for the Montreal Herald, 20 March, 1820 (published in the Quebec Gazette, 27 March, 1820)". Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada. Vol. 1819–1828. Public Archives of Canada. p. 45.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  10. ↑ Assembly 1837, p. 639.
  11. ↑ Hayne, David, ed. (1972). "Head, Sir Francis Bond". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  12. ↑ UK 1791, s.14-15.
  13. 1 2 Doughty, Arthur George; McArthur, Duncan, eds. (1914). "Proclamation Dividing The Province Of Upper Canada Into Counties (1872-07-16)" (PDF). Sessional papers of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, 1914. 25 (Documents relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1791–1818): 77–82.
  14. ↑ Froman 1984, p. 73–80.
  15. ↑ Upper Canada 1798.
  16. ↑ Upper 1800.
  17. ↑ Upper 1808.
  18. ↑ Upper 1820, s.2.
  19. ↑ Campbell 1910, p. 169.
  20. ↑ Assembly 1792, p. 53.
  21. 1 2 Froman 1984, p. v.
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