Verchères (Province of Canada electoral district)

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LegislatureLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
District created1841
District abolished1867
First contested1841
Verchères
Canada East
Province of Canada electoral district
Defunct pre-Confederation electoral district
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
District created1841
District abolished1867
First contested1841
Last contested1863

Verchères was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East, primarily south of Montreal. It was created in 1841, based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.

In 1853, the provincial Parliament redrew the electoral map. The boundaries for Verchères were altered to some extent in the new map, which came into force for the 1854 general elections.

Verchères was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Quebec.

1841 to 1854

Verchères electoral district was located primarily south of Montreal, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River and bordered by the Richelieu River (now in the Montérégie administrative district).

The Union Act, 1840 merged the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with a single Parliament. The separate parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were abolished.[1] The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[2]

The Lower Canada electoral district of Verchères was not altered by the Act. It was therefore continued with the same boundaries in the new Parliament. Those boundaries had been set by a statute of Lower Canada in 1829:

The County of Verchères shall be bounded on the north west by the River Saint Lawrence, on the south east by the River Richelieu or Chambly, on the south west by the seigniories of Boucherville, Montarville and Chambly, and on the north east by that part of the south west boundary of the seigniory of Saint Ours between the River Saint Lawrence and the River Richelieu, comprising all the Islands in the said River Saint Lawrence, and the said River Richelieu or Chambly, in front of and nearest to the said County, in whole or in part fronting the same; which County so bounded comprehends the Seigniories of Contrecour, Bellevue, Verchères, Saint Blain, Guillodière, La Trinité or Cap Saint Michel, Varennes, Beloeil and its augmentation, Cournoyer and all the Islands in the said River Saint Lawrence opposite the same, Isle Bouchard excepted.[3]

1854 to 1867

In 1853, the Parliament of the Province of Canada passed a new electoral map. The boundaries of Verchères were altered to some extent by the new map, which came into force in the general elections of 1854:

The County of Verchères shall be bounded on the north-east by the County of Richelieu as above described, on the north-west by the River Saint Lawrence, on the south-east by the River Richelieu, and on the south-west by the south-eastern limits of the Parishes of Chambly, Saint Bruno and Boucherville, including all Islands in the said Rivers Saint Lawrence and Richelieu nearest to the said County and wholly or in part opposite to the same; the said County so bounded comprising the Parishes of Varennes, Verchères, Contrecœur, Belœil, Saint Marc, Saint Antoine and Sainte Julie.[4]

Members of the Legislative Assembly (1841–1867)

Abolition

See also

References

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