The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

governing the province of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. Modelled after the British

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, 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 The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

were united into the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

. Some members were reappointed to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

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

Notes: # Jacob Mountain was the Anglican Bishop of Quebec; he never attended a session but was not dropped. # Angus McIntosh never attended a session but was not dropped; he returned to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1831. # James Gordon was re-appointed to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada in October 1845. # 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

References

*''Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology'', Frederick H. Armstrong, Toronto : Dundurn Press, 1985. {{ISBN, 0-919670-92-X * Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, University of Toronto Press and Les Presses de l'Université Laval.

External links