The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...
until 1838. The upper house consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the 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 el ...
. The legislative council was created by the ''
Constitutional Act''. Many of the members first called in the Council in 1792 had served as councillors in the
Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec.
The council came to be dominated by the
Château Clique, members of the province's most powerful families who were generally interested in preserving the status quo. Both the upper and lower houses were dissolved on March 27, 1838 following the
Lower Canada Rebellion and Lower Canada was administered by an appointed
Special Council.
Following the
Act of Union in 1840, the
Legislative Council of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as ...
was created in 1841.
Legislative buildings
*
Old Parliament Building (Quebec)
List of Members of the Legislative Council
Speakers
During much of the existence of the Legislative Council, the Chief Justice served as Speaker and others appointed to the role in absence of the Chief Justice.
[{{Cite web, url=http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00943, title = Journals of the Legislative Council of the prov... - Canadiana Online]
*
William Smith 1791-1793
*
William Osgoode 1794-1797
*
Thomas Dunn 1797-1801
*
James Monk
Sir James Monk (1745 – November 18, 1826) was Chief Justice of Lower Canada. Monk played a significant role in the abolition of slavery in British North America, when as Chief Justice he rendered a series of decisions regarding escaped ...
1802
*
John Elmsley
John Elmsley (1762 – April 29, 1805) was Chief Justice of Upper Canada and afterwards Lower Canada. In both of the Canadas he served as President of the Executive Council and Speaker of the Legislative Council. During the Hunter administr ...
1803-1804
* Thomas Dunn 1805
*
François Baby 1806
*
Henry Allcock
Henry Allcock (baptised January 26, 1759 – February 22, 1808) was a judge and political figure in Upper and Lower Canada.
His family was from Edgbaston and he was born in Birmingham, England in 1759 and studied law at Lincoln's Inn in Lon ...
1807-1808
* Thomas Dunn 1808
*
Jonathan Sewell 1809-1810
* Thomas Dunn 1811-?
* James Monk 1815-1816
* Jonathan Sewell 1817
*
John Hale 1818
* Jonathan Sewell 1819-1826
*
James Kerr 1827-1828
* Jonathan Sewell 1829-1830
* John Hale 1831
*
Sir John Caldwell 1831-?
* Jonathan Sewell 1833-1838
After the Rebellion, the Speaker was a member of the
Special Council of Lower Canada:
*
James Cuthbert, Jr. 1838
*
Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1839-1841
See also
*
Executive Council of Lower Canada The Executive Council of Lower Canada was an appointive body created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. Its function was to advise the Governor or his representative on the administration of the colony's public affairs. It was replaced by the Execu ...
*
Constitutional history of Canada
The constitutional history of Canada begins with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, in which France ceded most of New France to Great Britain. Canada was the colony along the St Lawrence River, part of present-day Ontario and Quebec. Its government under ...
*
Legislative Council of Quebec
The Legislative Council of Quebec (French; ''Conseil législatif du Québec'') was the unelected upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1867 to 1968. The Legislative Assembly was the elected lower hou ...
Notes
Unless otherwise noted, the member died in office.
External links
Journals of the Legislative Council of the province of Lower Canada (1802–1837)(Canadiana.org)
''Aux fenêtres du Parlement de Québec : histoire, traditions, coutumes, usages, procédures, souvenirs, anecdotes, commissions et autres organismes'', D. Potvin (1942) Assemblée nationale du Québec (French)
Lower Canada
Defunct upper houses in Canada
*
1792 establishments in Lower Canada