5th Parliament of Upper Canada
Parliament for Upper Canada 1809–1812
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The 5th Parliament of Upper Canada was the composition of the Parliament of Upper Canada between February 1809 and May 1812, and consisted of
- The Crown of the United Kingdom, as represented by Francis Gore, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada during its first three years and by General Isaac Brock, the colony's administrator (the acting governor) during its final year, and advised by the Executive Council of Upper Canada
- the appointed members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada that were in office during that time
- members elected to the House of Assembly of Upper Canada in elections held in May 1808.
While references to "parliament" in modern Canadian and British political discourse generally refer to the elected chamber of the legislature, the elected assembly of Upper Canada wielded relatively little power relative to the unelected legislative council and was afforded little deference by either the Lieutenant Governor or the Legislative Council. Accordingly, the Crown and the upper house were both significant elements of parliaments in its role as the legislature of the colony.
Sessions
The 5th Parliament was convened over four sessions, held between February and March of each of the years 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812.[1]
| Sessions[1] | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2 February 1809 | 9 March 1809 |
| 2nd | 1 February 1810 | 12 March 1810 |
| 3rd | 1 February 1811 | 13 March 1811 |
| 4th | 1 February 1812 | 6 March 1812 |
All sessions were held at the Palace of Parliament located at the located at the intersection of Front Street and Parliament Street in York, Upper Canada (now City of Toronto, Parliament Street was named due to the building, though Front Street was on the Bay at the time). It would be the last parliament to be in session at the site for its entirety. The Palace of Parliament was set ablaze and destroyed by American Troops in the plundering following the Battle of York on April 27, 1813.
No known copies of the journals for the first session held 1809 survived to this day. Accordingly, some aspect of the 5th Parliament cannot be definitely explained or determined.[2][3]
The 5th Parliament was dissolved on May 1, 1812 by the Administrator of the Government Isaac Brock who had been frustrated in his efforts to pass legislation preparing the colony for war with the United States. Elections were held in June that year and the 6th Parliament was convened in the last week of July for a very short extraordinary session, the first time more than one session of parliament was convened within a calendar year in Upper Canada.
Composition
The composition of the House of Assembly was prescribed by legislation passed in March 1808.[4] The membership of the assembly was expanded from nineteen seats in the 3rd and 4th parliaments to twenty-five seats. The six addition electoral divisions came from the following changes.
| 1792 districts[a] | Electoral divisions in 3rd and 4th |
Electoral divisions in 5th |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | Glengarry & Prescott (duo-member) | Glengarry (duo-member) |
| Prescott | ||
| Midland | Lennox & Addington | Lennox & Addington (duo member) |
| Home | Durham, Simcoe & York 1st | East York & Simcoe |
| Northumberland & Durham | ||
| West York, 1st Lincoln & Haldimand (duo-member) |
West York | |
| Niagara | 1st Lincoln & Haldimand (duo-member) | |
| 2nd, 3rd & 4th Lincoln (duo-member) | 2nd Lincoln | |
| 3rd Lincoln | ||
| 4th Lincoln | ||
| London | Norfolk, Oxford & Middlesex | Norfolk |
| Oxford & Middlesex |
List of Members
Members of the House of Assembly[2][3]
| 1792 districts[a] |
Constituency | Member | First elected/ previously elected | Additional term(s) in parliament |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern (7) (Johnstown) |
Dundas | Henry Merkley | 1808 | |
| Glengarry | Alexander Macdonell (of Collachie) | 1800 | 3rd–6th | |
| Glengarry | Thomas Fraser | 1808 | 2nd | |
| Prescott | Thomas Mears | 1808 | 6th | |
| Stormont & Russell | John Brownell[5] | 1808 | ||
| Abraham Marsh (Sept 1810) | 1810 | |||
| Grenville | Stephen Burritt | 1808 | ||
| Leeds | Peter Howard | 1804 | 4th, 7th | |
| Midland (6) (Newcastle) |
Frontenac | Allan McLean | 1804 | 4th, 6th–8th |
| Hastings & Ameliasburgh Township | James McNabb | 1808 | 7th | |
| Lennox & Addington | John Roblin[6] | 1808 | ||
| Willet Casey (Feb 1811) | 1811 | 7th | ||
| Lennox & Addington | Thomas Dorland | 1804 | 4th | |
| Prince Edward except Ameliasburgh Township | James Wilson[7] | 1808 | 8th–10th, 12th | |
| John Stinson (Feb 1811) | 1811 | 6th | ||
| Northumberland and Durham | David McGregor Rogers | 1800 | 2nd–6th, 8th[b] | |
| Home (9) (Niagara, London) |
East York & Simcoe | Thomas B. Gough | 1808 | |
| West York | Richard Beasley[8] | 1808 | 2nd, 3rd, 9th[b] | |
| John Willson (Feb 1810) | 1810 | 6th, 8th–11th[b] | ||
| 1st Lincoln & Haldimand | Joseph Willcocks | 1808 | 4th[b], 6th | |
| 1st Lincoln & Haldimand | Levi Lewis | 1808 | 7th | |
| 2nd Lincoln | David Secord | 1808 | ||
| 3rd Lincoln | Samuel Street, Speaker | 1796 | 2nd | |
| 4th Lincoln | Crowell Willson | 1808 | ||
| Norfolk | Philip Sovereign | 1808 | ||
| Oxford & Middlesex | Benajah Mallory | 1804 | 4th | |
| Western (3) | Essex | Matthew Elliott | 1804 | 3rd, 4th |
| Essex | Jean Baptiste Baby | 1808 | ||
| Kent | John McGregor | 1804 | 4th–6th |
- Upper Canada went through numerous iteration of district redistribution, some of the changes were transitory and very narrow focus. Inclusion of all would detract rather than serve the purpose of showing geographical division. Districts that were created and in effect at the time are included in brackets for reference.
- as member of other electoral division(s)
Member of the Legislative Council
The Legislative Council was the appointed upper house of the parliament. It held veto power over all legislations passed by the elected assembly and exercised it regularly with little deference to assembly democratic mandate. Members were appointed for life (but were subject to removal for non-attendance), therefore the date for the end of their term were usually the date of their death.
| Member | Town | Appointed | Term ended | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Baby | Sandwich | July 12, 1792 | February 19, 1833 | |
| Richard Cartwright | Kingston | July 12, 1792 | July 27, 1815 | |
| Alexander Grant, Sr. | York | July 12, 1792 | May 8, 1813 | Also a member of the Executive Council |
| Robert Hamilton | Niagara | July 12, 1792 | March 8, 1809 | |
| Æneas Shaw | York | June 19, 1794 | February 6, 1814 | |
| Jacob Mountain | Quebec City | July 1, 1794 | June 25, 1825 | Member ex officio Anglican Bishop of Quebec, did not attend any sitting |
| John McGill | York | June 10, 1797 | December 31, 1834 | Also a member of the Executive Council; Inspector General (1801–13); Auditor General of Land Patents (1813–18) |
| Thomas Scott | York | August 7, 1806 | July 29, 1824 | Speaker of council ex officio Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench (1806–16) |
| Thomas Talbot | Port Talbot | September, 1809 | February 10, 1841 | |
| William Claus | Niagara | February 1, 1812 | November 11, 1826 |