Lower Canada Tories is a general name for individuals and parliamentary groups in
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 ...
, and later in 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 ...
's division of
Canada East
Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...
,
who supported the
British connection, colonialism, and a strong colonial governor. They generally favoured assimilation of French-Canadians to British culture, laws, and the English language, and opposed democracy.
Château Clique

The Château Clique, or ', was a group of wealthy families in
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 ...
in the early 19th century. They were the Lower Canada equivalent of the
Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
in
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 ...
.
Like the Family Compact, the Château Clique gained most of its influence after the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
. Most of its families were
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
merchants, but some were
French Canadian
French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...
seigneur
A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...
s who felt that their own interests were best served by an affiliation with this group. Some of the most prominent members were brewer
John Molson
John Molson (28 December 1763 – 11 January 1836) was an English people, English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Province of Quebec (1763–91), Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewe ...
and
James McGill
James McGill (6 October 1744 – 19 December 1813) was a Scottish-born businessman, politician, slaveholder, and philanthropist best known for being the founder of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. He was elected to the Legislative Assembl ...
, the founder of
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
. Generally, they wanted the French Canadian majority of Lower Canada to assimilate to English culture. That included the abolition of the
seigneurial system, replacing French
civil law with English
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, and replacing the established
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
with the
Anglican Church
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
. Their efforts led to the
Act of Union (1840), which ultimately failed in its attempt to
assimilate all French Canadians but succeeded in preventing their political and economic interests from prevailing over those of Britain. The ''Château Clique'' also had control over the Crown lands and the clergy reserves but much less than the Family Compact because of the already-existing seigneurial system.
Parliamentary groups
They were also known on the electoral scene as the ''Parti bureaucrate'' (Bureaucratic Party), also known as the British Party or the Tory Party.
Constitutional framework
The
Constitutional Act of 1791
The Constitutional Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3. c. 31) () was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which was passed during the reign of George III. The act divided the old Province of Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada, each with its ow ...
had established three branches of government: the
Legislative Assembly, an elected lower house; 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 ...
, an appointed upper house; and the Executive Council, which acted as a kind of
cabinet for the
lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. The governor was appointed by the British Crown, and he appointed members of the Clique as his advisers. The Clique was also able to establish itself in the Legislative Council, leaving the Legislative Assembly, made up of a majority of French-Canadian
representatives, with little or no power.
Lower Canada Rebellion
Louis-Joseph Papineau
Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...
, as a reformer in the Assembly, was one of the fiercest opponents of the Château Clique. His struggles against the Clique and the Lieutenant Governor,
Lord Gosford, led to the
Lower Canada Rebellion
The Lower Canada Rebellion (), commonly referred to as the Patriots' Rebellion () in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada (now southern Quebec). Together wit ...
in 1837.
After the rebellion, Upper and Lower Canada were united as 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 ...
, but the Château Clique did not disappear like the Family Compact. While the English-speaking population became the majority, the British-appointed governors still attempted to force the French Canadian population to assimilate.
Canada East
Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...
, as
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 ...
was called after the union, eventually gained some political independence with the union government of
Robert Baldwin and
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.
Other members
*
Edward Bowen
*
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He took credit for the Ameri ...
, banker
*
Peter McGill
Peter McGill (August 1789 – September 28, 1860) was a Scots-Quebecer businessman who served as the second mayor of Montreal from 1840 to 1842.
Biography
He was born Peter McCutcheon in the village of Creebridge, Wigtownshire (now Dum ...
*
William McGillivray
Lt.-Colonel The Hon. William McGillivray (1764 – 16 October 1825), of Chateau St. Antoine, Montreal, was a Scottish-born fur trader who succeeded his uncle Simon McTavish as the last chief partner of the North West Company until a merger be ...
, fur trader
*
Jacob Mountain
Jacob Mountain (1 December 1749 – 16 June 1825) was an English priest who was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of Quebec. He served also on both the Legislative Council of Lower Canada and the Legislative Council of Upper Canada.
Biography ...
, Archbishop of the
Anglican Diocese of Quebec
*
Jonathan Sewell, member and Speaker of the
Legislative Council of Lower Canada
The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the Parliament of Lower Canada from 1792 until 1838. The Legislative Council consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canad ...
*
Charles James Stewart, Archbishop of the
Anglican Diocese of Quebec
See also
*
History of Quebec
*
History of Canada
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with d ...
*
Timeline of Canadian history
*
Timeline of Quebec history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower Canada Tories
Anglicanism in Canada
Lower Canada people
Lower Canada Rebellion
Political history of Quebec
Political parties in Lower Canada