View source for 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|150px|center|The First Ceremonial Mace of Upper Canada]]
| 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 [[List of lieutenant governors of Ontario|Lieutenant Governor]], [[Executive Council of Upper Canada|Executive Council]], and [[Legislative Council of Upper Canada|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, Upper Canada|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]], [[United States Army|American troops]] [[Battle of York#Burning of York|set fire]] to the [[Ontario Legislative Building#History|buildings]] of the Assembly.
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==Political divisions==
[[File:Third Parliament Buildings 1834.jpg|thumb|left|Third Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada (1834)]]

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 [[Reform movement (pre-Confederation Canada)|reformers]] emerged, initially led by [[William Warren Baldwin]] starting 1820s and then by [[William Lyon Mackenzie]] in the 1830s.

The [[Act of Union (1840)|1840 Act of Union]] united Upper and [[Lower Canada]] into the single [[Province of Canada]] and, from this point until [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] in 1867, a joint parliament was held for the united provinces.
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== List of parliaments ==
*[[1st Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1792–1796
*[[2nd Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1797–1800
*[[3rd Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1801–1804
*[[4th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1805–1808
*[[5th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1808–1812
*[[6th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1812–1816
*[[7th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1817–1820
*[[8th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1821–1824
*[[9th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1825–1828
*[[10th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1829–1830
*[[11th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1831–1834
*[[12th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1835–1836
*[[13th Parliament of Upper Canada]] 1837–1840

==Speakers==

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
|-
! Speaker
! Term
! Parliament
|-
| [[Captain (land)|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 (politician)|Alexander Macdonell]] 
| 1805–1808
| 4th
|-
| [[Allan McLean (Upper Canada politician)|Allan McLean]] 
| 1813–1820
| 6th and 7th
|-
| [[Levius Peters Sherwood]] 
| 1821–1824
| 8th
|-
| [[John Wilson (Ontario politician)|John Wilson]]
| 1825–1828
| 9th
|-
| [[Marshall Spring Bidwell]] 
| 1829–1830 and 1835
| 10th and 12th
|-
| [[Archibald McLean (judge)|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 [[Upper Canada Rebellion|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 (merchant)|William Macomb]]
| [[Northern Ireland]], [[Great Britain]]
| [[Detroit, Michigan|Fort Detroit]], [[Upper Canada]]
| [[Detroit]] was part of Upper Canada before 1796; died in Detroit
|-
| [[Hugh McDonell]]
| [[Aberchalder Lodge]], Scotland
| [[Florence, Italy|Florence]] ([[March of Tuscany]], [[Austrian Empire]])
| Left Canada to serve as [[United Kingdom|British]] diplomat; died in Italy
|-
| [[Robert Thorpe (Canadian judge)|Robert Thorpe]]
| [[Dublin]], Ireland, [[Great Britain]]
| [[London, England|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 (city), New York|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, New York|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 (rank)|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 (politician)|Peter Perry]]
| [[Ernestown, Ontario|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 (Upper Canada Rebellion)|Charles Duncombe]]
| [[Connecticut]], United States
| Hicksville, [[California]], United States
| Fled Canada due to involvement in 1837 Rebellion, became [[California State Assembly]]man 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|Spencertown]], [[New York (state)|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
|-
| [[Sir David William Smith, 1st Baronet|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 [[Ontario Legislative Building|Parliament Building]] in York, 1832, on [[Front Street (Toronto)|Front Street]] between Simcoe and John St.
}}
* [[Navy Hall]] at Newark (1792)
* First (1793–1813) and second (1820–1824) [[Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada]] at York

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

* [[Campbell House (Toronto)|Residence]] of the [[Court of Appeal for Ontario|Chief Justice of Upper Canada]] (1824-1829)
* Old York County Court House on King between Toronto and Church Streets (1829–1832)
* Ballroom of [[Toronto Sun Building|York Hotel]] at York – one session 1813
* [[Toronto General Hospital|York General Hospital]] (1824–1829)
* Third [[First Ontario Parliament Buildings|Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada]] (1832–1840)

==See also==
* [[Legislative Council of Upper Canada]]
* [[Executive Council of Upper Canada]]
* [[List of lieutenant governors of Ontario|Lieutenant Governors of Upper Canada, 1791–1841]]
* [[Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada]]

== 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<nowiki>]</nowiki>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]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada}}
[[Category:Parliaments of Upper Canada|*]]
[[Category:1792 establishments in Upper Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada|*]]
[[Category:Defunct lower houses in Canada|Canada, Upper]]