Legislative Council of Upper Canada

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.

Legislative Council of Upper Canada
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of Upper Canada
History
Founded	1791 (1791)
Disbanded	1841 (1841)
Preceded by	Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec
Succeeded by	Legislative Council of the Province of Canada

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

Notes:

1. Jacob Mountain was the Anglican 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:

• William Osgoode 1792–1794
• Peter Russell 1795–1796
• John Elmsley 1796–1802
• Henry Allcock 1803–1806
• Thomas Scott 1806–1816
• William Dummer Powell 1816–1825
• William Campbell (jurist) 1825–1829
• Sir John Beverley Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto 1829–1840
• Jonas Jones April 1839–June 1840 (interim)

Buildings housing the Legislative Council

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

• Navy Hall at Newark (1792)
• first (1793–1813) and second (1820–1824) Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada at York
• residence of the Chief Justice of Upper Canada (1813–1820)
• old York County Court House on King between Toronto and Church Streets (1829–1832)
• ballroom of York Hotel at York - one session 1813
• York General Hospital (1824–1829)
• third Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada (1832–1840)

Meeting Places

• St. George's Church, Kingston - July 1792; Church demolished 1825 (replaced with St. George's Cathedral), site now Kingston Market Square across from Kingston Custom House (294 King Street East)
• In a tent and later at Navy Hall or Freemasons Hall in Newark - September 1792 – 1796
• Various buildings that housed Parliament at York - 1797-1841

See also

• Parliament of Canada
• Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada
• Legislative Council of Lower Canada
• Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
• Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
• Legislative Council of the Province of Canada
• Legislative Assembly of Ontario