Legislative Council of Lower Canada

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

Conseil législatif du Bas-Canada
Type
Type
History
Founded1791 (1791)
Disbanded1838 (1838)
Preceded byCouncil for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec
Succeeded byLegislative Council of the Province of Canada (following the temporary Special 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 Canada. 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 was created in 1841.

Legislative buildings

List of Members of the Legislative Council

Member Appointed to the Chamber End of Term
Adam Mabane 1792[1] 1792 (January 3)
François-Marie Picoté de Belestre 1792 1792 (March 30)
William Smith (Speaker 1791-1793) 1792 1793 (December 6)
Edward Harrison 1792 1794 (October 15)
John Collins 1792 1795 (April 15)
John Fraser 1792 1795 (December 5)
Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry 1792 1797 (December 11)
Hugh Finlay 1792 1801 (December 26)
Joseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil 1792 1807 (January 19)
Charles-Louis Tarieu de Lanaudière 1792 1811 (October 2)
René-Amable Boucher de Boucherville 1792 1812 (August 31)
Paul-Roch de Saint-Ours 1792 1814 (August 11)
Thomas Dunn (Speaker 1797-1801; 1805; 1808; 1811-1815?) 1792 1818 (April 15)
François Baby (Speaker 1806) 1792 1820 (October 6)
George Pownall 1792 1834 (October 17)
Henry Caldwell 1793 (February 5) 1810 (May 28)
Jacob Mountain 1793 (July 7) 1825 (June 16)
William Osgoode (Speaker 1794-1797) 1795 (January 5) 1824 (January 17)
James Monk (Speaker 1802; 1815-1816) 1795 (January 5) 1820 (June )[2]
John Johnson 1796 1830 (January 4)
Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière 1796 1822 (January 1)
Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau 1798 1809 (September 18)
Jenkin Williams 1803 (February 8) 1819 (October 30)
John Elmsley (Speaker 1803-1804) 1803 (February 8) 1805 (April 29)
Henry Allcock (Speaker 1807-1808) 1807 (January 21) 1808 (February 22)
Jonathan Sewell (Speaker 1809-1810; 1817; 1819-1826; 1829-1830; 1833-1838) 1808 1838 (March 27)[3]
Charles de Saint-Ours 1808 (December 2) 1834 (November 11)
John Hale (Speaker 1818; 1831) 1808 (December 3) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Antoine-Louis Juchereau Duchesnay 1810 (December 12) 1825 (February 17)
Sir John Caldwell (Speaker 1831-1833?) 1811 (December 15) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Herman Witsius Ryland 1811 (December 17) 1838 (March 27)[3]
James Cuthbert 1811 (December 18) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Charles-Gaspard Tarieu de Lanaudière 1811 (December 19) 1812 (June 7)
Charles William Grant 1811 (December 21) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Pierre-Ignace Aubert de Gaspé 1812 1823 (February 13)
Jacques-Nicolas Perrault 1812 (January) 1812 (August 7)
John Blackwood 1813 (April 9) 1819 (June 24)
Pierre-Dominique Debartzch 1814 (January 17) 1838 (March 27)[3]
William McGillivray 1814 (January 19) 1825 (October 16)
Jean-Antoine Panet 1815 (January) 1815 (May 17)
John Richardson 1816 (January 24) 1831 (May 18)
Joseph-Octave Plessis 1817 (April 30) 1825 (December 4)
Roderick Mackenzie of Terrebonne 1817 (May 10) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d'Irumberry de Salaberry 1817 (December 4) 1828 (March 22)
William Burns 1818 (January 2) 1829 (September 25)
Michael Henry Perceval 1818 (January 10) 1829 (October 12)
Olivier Perrault 1818 (January 28) 1827 (March 19)
Thomas-Pierre-Joseph Taschereau 1818 (January 28) 1826 (October 8)
William Scott 1818 (January 29) 1820 (January 11)
Louis-René Chaussegros de Léry 1818 (February 9) 1832 (November 28)
James Irvine 1818 (February 20) 1829 (September 20)
Louis Turgeon 1818 (March 10) 1827 (September 26)
Louis Gugy 1818 (April 10) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry 1818 (December 14) 1829 (February 27)
James Kerr (Speaker 1827-1828) 1821 (October 19) 1838 (March 27)[3]
William Bowman Felton 1822 (April 6) 1837 (June 30)
Mathew Bell 1823 (April 30) 1838 (March 27)[5]
Edward Bowen 1824 (February 27) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Toussaint Pothier 1824 (July 22) 1838 (March 27)[4]
John Stewart 1825 (May 13) 1838 (March 27)[3]
John Forsyth 1827 (July 3) 1837 (December 27)
Charles James Stewart 1828 (January) 1837 (July 13)
Jean-Thomas Taschereau 1828 (May 2) 1832 (June 14)
Samuel Hatt 1829 (November 29) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Denis-Benjamin Viger 1829 (November 30) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Louis Guy 1830 (December 20) 1838 (March 27)[3]
George Moffatt 1830 (December 24) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Jacques-Philippe Saveuse de Beaujeu 1831 (November 25) 1832 (June 19)
François-Roch de Saint-Ours 1832 (January 1) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Peter McGill 1832 (January 3) 1838 (March 27)[4]
John Molson 1832 (January 4) 1836 (January 11)
Marc-Pascal de Sales Laterrière 1832 (January 5) 1838 (March 27)[4]
François-Xavier Malhiot 1832 (January 6) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Jean Dessaulles 1832 (January 7) 1835 (June 20)
Barthélemy Joliette 1832 (January 8) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Pierre de Rastel de Rocheblave 1832 (January 9) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Robert Unwin Harwood 1832 (January 10) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Antoine-Gaspard Couillard 1832 (January 11) 1838 (March 27)[4]
Jean-Baptiste Juchereau Duchesnay 1832 (April 4) 1833 (January 13)
James Baxter 1832 (August) 1837 (November 18)
Horatio Gates 1832 (August 1) 1834 (April 11)
Robert Jones 1832 (August 2) 1838 (March 27)[3]
François Quirouet 1833 (October 25) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Joseph Masson 1834 (October 16) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Amable Dionne 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[4]
René-Édouard Caron 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Janvier-Domptail Lacroix 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Gabriel Marchand 1837 (August 22) [5][6]
John Neilson 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[4]
John Pangman 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]
Melchior-Alphonse de Salaberry 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[5]
Jean-Baptiste-René Hertel de Rouville 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]
John Malcolm Fraser 1837 (August 22) 1838 (March 27)[3]

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.[7]

After the Rebellion, the Speaker was a member of the Special Council of Lower Canada:

See also

Notes

Unless otherwise noted, the member died in office.

  1. ^ named to council but died before being sworn into office
  2. ^ resigned
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Council dissolved on March 27, 1838
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k named to Special Council
  5. ^ a b c declined invitation to serve on Special Council
  6. ^ named to Legislative Council but refused to join
  7. ^ Journals of the Legislative Council of the province of Lower Canada, being the fourth session of the fifteenth provincial Parliament. 1837. pp. 19–20.