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Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

{{Short description|Historical parliament in Canada}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox legislature

| logo_pic = File:Ceremonial Mace of Upper Canada.png

| logo_caption = The First Ceremonial Mace of Upper Canada

| name = Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada

| house_type = Lower house

| body = Parliament of Upper Canada

| foundation = {{Start date|1791}}

| disbanded = {{End date|1841}}

| preceded_by = none

| succeeded_by = Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

}}{{Pre-confederation Canadian legislative bodies}}{{History of Ontario}}

The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lieutenant Governor, Executive Council, and Legislative Council.

The first elections in Upper Canada, in which only land-owning males were permitted to vote, were held in August 1792.

The first session of the Assembly's sixteen members occurred in Newark, Upper Canada on 17 September 1792. Shortly before the capital of Upper Canada was moved to York in 1796 the Assembly was dissolved and reconvened for twelve more sessions between 1797 and 1840 in modest buildings in the new capital. Members continued to be elected by land-owning males to represent counties and the larger towns.

During the War of 1812, American troops set fire to the buildings of the Assembly.

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Political divisions

File:Third Parliament Buildings 1834.jpg

Following the war, the executive and legislative councils became increasingly dominated by the Family Compact, a clique of wealthy individuals led primarily by John Strachan (a member of the powerful Executive Council of Upper Canada), which emerged in 1815. 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 people and eventually the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Opposing the Family Compact were initially an assortment of anti-establishment members, 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 provinces.

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List of parliaments

Speakers

class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
Speaker

! Term

! Parliament

Captain John McDonell

| 1792–1796

| 1st

Sir David William Smith, 1st Baronet

| 1796–1800 and 1801–1804

| 2nd and 3rd

Samuel Street

| 1800–1801 and 1809–1812

| 2nd and 5th

Alexander Macdonell

| 1805–1808

| 4th

Allan McLean

| 1813–1820

| 6th and 7th

Levius Peters Sherwood

| 1821–1824

| 8th

John Wilson

| 1825–1828

| 9th

Marshall Spring Bidwell

| 1829–1830 and 1835

| 10th and 12th

Archibald McLean

| 1831–1834 and 1836

| 11th and 12th

Allan MacNab

| 1837 and 1837–1840

| 13th

Henry Ruttan

| 1837

| 13th

Changing loyalties

A few members of the legislature eventually left Canada. Some left Canada to join the United States Army during the War of 1812. Some were involved in the Rebellion of 1837 and other just simply abandoned Canada. Most moved to the United States, some left for Great Britain.

class="wikitable"

!Name

!Born

!Died

!Reason for leaving Canada

Joseph Willcocks

| Palmerstown, Ireland, Great Britain

| Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada

| Fled Canada – organized Canadian Volunteers within United States Army, rank as Lieutenant Colonel; died in Canada and re-buried in Buffalo, New York

William Macomb

| Northern Ireland, Great Britain

| Fort Detroit, Upper Canada

| Detroit was part of Upper Canada before 1796; died in Detroit

Hugh McDonell

| Aberchalder Lodge, Scotland

| Florence (March of Tuscany, Austrian Empire)

| Left Canada to serve as British diplomat; died in Italy

Robert Thorpe

| Dublin, Ireland, Great Britain

| London, United Kingdom

| Forced to leave Canada – subdsequently served as chief justice and judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court in Sierra Leone 1808–1811; died in England

Benajah Mallory

| Vermont (Thirteen Colonies)

| Lockport, New York, United States

| Fled Canada during War of 1812 and subsequently served in Canadian Volunteers with United States Army, died in NY

Abraham Markle

| Ulster County, Province of New York

| Terre Haute, Indiana, United States

| Left Canada during War of 1812 and joined Canadian Volunteers with United States Army as a Major; died in the US

Marshall Spring Bidwell

| Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States

| New York, NY

| Forced to leave Canada due in involvement in 1837 Rebellion, became New York State lawyer, died in NYC

Peter Perry

| Ernestown, Upper Canada

| Saratoga Springs, New York, United States

| Died after visiting Bidwell in the US

Hiram Norton

| Vermont, United States

| Lockport, Illinois, United States

| Fled Canada due to involvement in 1837 Rebellion; became a flour mill owner/operator; died in US

Charles Duncombe

| Connecticut, United States

| Hicksville, California, United States

| Fled Canada due to involvement in 1837 Rebellion, became California State Assemblyman 1859 and later as a county representative of the Sacramento County 1863–1867; died in California

William Lyon Mackenzie

| Dundee, Scotland

| Toronto, Province of Canada

| Fled Canada due to involvement in 1837 Rebellion, became US citizen and later returned to Canada 1849; died in Toronto

Jesse Ketchum

| Spencertown, New York, United States

| Buffalo, NY, United States

| Retired and moved from Canada to Buffalo, New York in 1845 and died in there in 1867

Henry Yager

| Claverack, New York, United States

| Dane County, Wisconsin, United States

| Left Canada with family as dairy farmer in Dane County, Wisconsin and died there

Robert Alway

| Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, Great Britain

| Republic of Texas

| Fled Canada due to involvement in 1837 Rebellion and died shortly after arriving in Texas

David William Smith

| Salisbury, England

| Alnwick, Northumberland, England

| Left Canada and return to England in 1804 and became a property manager; died in England

Buildings housing the Legislative Assembly

{{Gallery

| title =

| align = right

| width =

| height = 100

|File:Ontario's first parliament buildings.jpg|The first Parliament of Ontario (Upper Canada) in Toronto (York) on Front Street at Parliament Street, pre-1812

|File:Upper Canada's 2nd Parliament, 1818-1824.gif|The second Parliament of Ontario (Upper Canada) in Toronto (York), 1818–1824

|File:Third Parliament Buildings 1834.jpg|The third Parliament Building in York, 1832, on Front Street between Simcoe and John St.

}}

From 1824 to 1832, the Assembly sat at temporary locations due to the fire that destroyed the second home:

See also

References

  • Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology, Frederick H. Armstrong, Toronto : Dundurn Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0-919670-92-X}}

External links

  • James G. Chewett, [https://archive.org/details/cihm_27521 "The Upper Canada almanac, and provincial calendar, for the year of Our Lord 1827: being the third after bissextile or leap year, and the eighth year of the reign of His Majesty [King G]eorge the Fourth ..."] (York (Toronto): Robert Stanton, 1827), 76, ii pp.
  • James G. Chewett, [https://archive.org/details/cihm_42711 "The Upper Canada almanac and astronomical calendar for the year of Our Lord 1828: being bissextile or leap year and the ninth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth ..."] (York (Toronto): Robert Stanton, 1828), 76, ii pp.
  • James G. Chewett, [https://archive.org/details/cihm_26326 "The Upper Canada almanac, and provincial calendar, for the year of Our Lord 1831: being the third after bissextile, or leap year, and the second year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth ..."] (York (Toronto): Robert Stanton, 1831), 103, ii pp.
  • [http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=004690 Government of Ontario site]

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Category:1792 establishments in Upper Canada

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Canada, Upper