View source for Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

{{Short description|Lower house of the provincial government in Lower Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name               = Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
| native_name        = <small>Chambre d'assemblée du Bas-Canada</small>
| native_name_lang   = fr
| house_type         = Lower house
| body               = Parliament of Lower Canada
| foundation         = {{Start date|1791}}
| disbanded          = {{End date|1838}}
| preceded_by        = Council for Affairs of the Province of Quebec (c.  1774)
| succeeded_by       = [[Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada]] ''(following the temporary [[Special Council of Lower Canada]])''
}}{{Pre-confederation Canadian legislative bodies}}

[[Image:SIMPSON Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.jpg|thumb|The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, in the Chapel of Bishop's Palace, Quebec City]]
The '''Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada''' was the lower house of the [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] structure of provincial government in [[Lower Canada]] until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the [[Constitutional Act of 1791]]. The lower house consisted of elected legislative councilors who created bills to be passed up to the [[Legislative Council of Lower Canada]], whose members were appointed by the governor general.

Following the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]], the lower house was dissolved on March 27, 1838, and Lower Canada was administered by an appointed [[Special Council of Lower Canada|Special Council]]. With the [[Act of Union 1840|Act of Union]] in 1840, a new lower chamber, the [[Legislative Assembly of Canada]], was created for both [[Upper Canada|Upper]] and Lower Canada which existed  until 1867, when the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec]] was created.

== Speaker of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada ==

* [[Jean-Antoine Panet]] 1792–1794
* [[Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière]] 1794–1796
* [[Jean-Antoine Panet]] 1797-1814
* [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]] 1815–1822
* [[Joseph-Remi Vallieres de Saint-Real]] 1823–1825
* [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]] 1825–1841

==Electoral Districts==

=== From 1792 to 1829===
50 members
elected in 23 two-seat districts and four single-seat districts.

{| class="wikitable centre" style="text-align: left; width:80%; font-size:100%;"
! style="width:25%;" | Electoral District
! style="width:10%;" | # of Members
! style="width:65%;" | Status after electoral changes in 1829
|-
|'''[[Rouville (Bas-Canada)|Bedford]]'''
|1
|Renamed as Rouville.
|-
|'''[[Buckingham (Bas-Canada)|Buckingham]]'''
|2
| [[Drummond (Bas-Canada)|Drummond]], [[Missisquoi (Bas-Canada)|Missisquoi]], [[Shefford (Bas-Canada)|Shefford]], [[Sherbrooke (Bas-Canada)|Sherbrooke]] and [[Stanstead (Bas-Canada)|Stanstead]] split off from Buckingham during elections in 1829. In 1830 what was left of Buckingham was split into [[Lotbinière (Bas-Canada)|Lotbinière]], [[Nicolet (Bas-Canada)|Nicolet]] et [[Yamaska (Bas-Canada)|Yamaska]].
|-
|'''[[Cornwallis (Bas-Canada)|Cornwallis]]'''
|2
|Divided into [[Kamouraska (Bas-Canada)|Kamouraska]] and [[Rimouski (Bas-Canada)|Rimouski]].
|-
|'''[[L'Islet (Bas-Canada)|Devon]]'''
|2
| Renamed as L'Islet.
|-
|'''[[Dorchester (Bas-Canada)|Dorchester]]'''
|2
| [[Beauce (Bas-Canada)|Beauce]] was split from Dorchester.
|-
|'''[[Terrebonne (Bas-Canada)|Effingham]]'''
|2
|Renamed as Terrebonne.
|-
|'''[[Gaspé (Bas-Canada)|Gaspé]]'''
|1
|[[Bonaventure (Bas-Canada)|Bonaventure]] was separated from Gaspé. 
|-
|'''[[Portneuf (Bas-Canada)|Hampshire]]'''
|2
|Renamed as Portneuf.
|-
|'''[[Bellechasse (Bas-Canada)|Hertford]]'''
|2
| Renamed as Bellechasse.
|-
|'''[[Huntingdon (Bas-Canada)|Huntingdon]]'''
|2
|Divided into [[Beauharnois (Bas-Canada)|Beauharnois]], [[L'Acadie (Bas-Canada)|L'Acadie]] and [[Laprairie (Bas-Canada)|Laprairie]].
|-
|'''[[Chambly (Bas-Canada)|Kent]]'''
|2
| Renamed as Chambly.
|-
|'''[[Leinster (Bas-Canada)|Leinster]]'''
|2
|Divided into [[Lachenaie (Bas-Canada)|Lachenaie]] and [[L'Assomption (Bas-Canada)|L'Assomption]].
|-
|'''[[Comté de Montréal (Bas-Canada)|Comté de Montréal]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Montréal-Est (Bas-Canada)|Montréal-Est]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Montréal-Ouest (Bas-Canada)|Montréal-Ouest]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Northumberland (Bas-Canada)|Northumberland]]'''
|2
|Divided into [[Montmorency (Bas-Canada)|Montmorency]] and [[Saguenay (Bas-Canada)|Saguenay]].
|-
|'''[[Orléans (Bas-Canada)|Orléans]]'''
|1 
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Comté de Québec (Bas-Canada)|Comté de Québec]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Basse-ville de Québec (Bas-Canada)|Basse-ville de Québec]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Haute-ville de Québec (Bas-Canada)|Haute-ville de Québec]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Richelieu (Bas-Canada)|Richelieu]]'''
|2
|[[Saint-Hyacinthe (Bas-Canada)|Saint-Hyacinthe]] split from Richelieu.
|-
|'''[[Saint-Maurice (Bas-Canada)|Saint-Maurice]]'''
|2
|[[Champlain (Bas-Canada)|Champlain]] split from Saint-Maurice.
|-
|'''[[Verchères (Bas-Canada)|Surrey]]'''
|2
| Renamed as Verchères.
|-
|'''[[Trois-Rivières (Bas-Canada)|Trois-Rivières]]'''
|2
| No changes
|-
|'''[[Berthier (Bas-Canada)|Warwick]]'''
|2
| Renamed as Berthier.
|-
|'''[[William-Henry (Bas-Canada)|William-Henry]]'''
|1
| No changes
|-
|'''[[York (Bas-Canada)|York]]'''
|2
|Divided into [[Deux-Montagnes (Bas-Canada)|Deux-Montagnes]], [[Ottawa (Bas-Canada)|Ottawa]] and [[Vaudreuil (Bas-Canada)|Vaudreuil]].
|}

== Buildings ==

See [[Old Parliament Building (Quebec)]]

== See also ==
*[[Executive Council of Lower Canada]]
*[[Constitutional history of Canada]]

== External links ==
* {{cite book |title=Journal of the House of Assembly of Lower-Canada (1793–1837) |location=Québec |publisher=John Neilson |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00938}}
* {{cite book |title=Appendix to the Journals of the House of Assembly of the province of Lower-Canada (1810–1837) |location=Québec |publisher=John Neilson |url=https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00939}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120506011800/http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/histoires-stories/parc-montmorency-park-eng.cfm Parliament of Canada (Montmorency Park)]

{{Parliament of Lower Canada}}
{{Canadian Legislative Bodies}}

[[Category:Parliaments of Lower Canada|*]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada|*]]
[[Category:1791 establishments in Lower Canada]]
[[Category:1838 disestablishments in Lower Canada]]
[[Category:Defunct lower houses in Canada|Canada, Lower]]