2nd Parliament of Ontario

The Second Parliament of Ontario was in session from March 21, 1871, until December 23, 1874, just prior to the 1875 general election.

The majority party was the Ontario Liberal Party led by Edward Blake, whose Cabinet succeeded as Government when incumbent John Sandfield Macdonald and his Patent Combination Ministry fell December 20, 1871; Oliver Mowat replaced Blake as premier in October 25, 1872, after an act was passed by the Ontario Parliament which prohibited a member from holding a seat in the Legislative Assembly while holding a seat in the Dominion Parliament, a so-called "dual mandate". Blake chose to serve as federal Leader of the Opposition instead of remaining as Premier. Mowat's Cabinet was largely similar to Blake's in composition.

Richard William Scott served as speaker for the assembly until he was named to cabinet on December 21, 1871. James George Currie succeeded Scott as speaker, serving until his resignation on March 29, 1873. Rupert Mearse Wells then succeeded Currie as speaker. ^[1]

There were 82 seats in the second legislature, 58 in the Liberal strongholds of Western, Central, and Northern Ontario, and 24 in much more conservative Eastern Ontario.

Members

	Riding	Member	Party	First elected / previously elected	Comments
	Addington	Hammel Madden Deroche	Liberal	1871
	Algoma	Frederick William Cumberland	Conservative	1867
	Bothwell	Archibald McKellar	Liberal	1867	Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works in Blake ministry after December 20, 1871 and the Mowat ministry until March 24, 1874 [2]
	Brant	Hugh Finlayson	Liberal	1867
	Brant South	Edmund Burke Wood	Conservative	1867	Treasurer in Sandfield Macdonald ministry until December 20, 1871; resigned provincial seat April 1, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament [3]
	Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1873)	Liberal	1873	elected May 2, 1873 [4]
	Brockville and Elizabethtown	William Fitzsimmons	Conservative	1867
	Bruce North	Donald Sinclair	Liberal	1867
	Bruce South	Edward Blake	Liberal	1867	Leader of the Opposition until December 20, 1871 Premier and Attorney General in Blake ministry from December 20, 1871 until October 25, 1872; resigned provincial seat September 12, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament; initially elected to two seats (the other being Durham West) Blake represents Bruce South as Premier [5]
	Rupert Mearse Wells (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected September 21, 1872; Speaker after March 29, 1873 [6]
	Cardwell	George McManus	Liberal-Conservative	1871
	Carleton	George William Monk	Conservative	1871
	Cornwall	John Sandfield MacDonald	Conservative	1867	Premier and Attorney General until December 20, 1871. John Sandfield Macdonald died in June 1, 1872 [7]
	John Goodall Snetsinger (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected July 16, 1872 [8]
	Dundas	Simon S. Cook	Liberal	1867
	Durham East	Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams	Conservative	1867
	Durham West	Edward Blake	Liberal	1867	Premier and Attorney General in Blake ministry from December 20, 1871 until October 25, 1872; resigned provincial seat September 12, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament; initially elected to two seats (the other being Bruce South) Blake represents Bruce South as Premier [5]
	John McLeod (1872)	Liberal	1867, 1872
	Elgin East	John Henry Wilson	Liberal	1871
	Elgin West	Thomas Hodgins	Liberal	1871
	Essex	Albert Prince	Liberal	1871
	Frontenac	Delino Dexter Calvin	Conservative	1868
	Glengarry	James Craig	Conservative	1867
	Grenville South	Mcneil Clarke	Conservative	1867	died February 29, 1872 [9]
	Christopher Finlay Fraser (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected March 30, 1872; Commissioner of Public Works in Mowat ministry after March 24, 1874 [10]
	Grey North	Thomas Scott	Conservative	1867
	Grey South	Abram William Lauder	Conservative	1867
	Haldimand	Jacob Baxter	Liberal	1867
	Halton	William Barber	Liberal	1867
	Hamilton	James Miller Williams	Liberal	1867
	Hastings East	Henry Corby	Conservative	1867
	Hastings North	George Henry Boulter	Conservative	1867
	Hastings West	Ketchum Graham	Conservative	1867
	Huron North	Thomas Gibson	Liberal	1871
	Huron South	Robert Gibbons	Liberal	1867, 1871	resigned January 8, 1874 to accept an appointment as sheriff [11]
	Archibald Bishop (1873)	Liberal	1873	elected October 16, 1873 [12]
	Kent	James Dawson	Liberal	1871
	Kingston	William Robinson	Conservative	1871
	Lambton	Timothy Blair Pardee	Liberal	1867	Commissioner of Crown Lands in Mowat ministry after December 4, 1873 [13]
	Lanark North	Daniel Galbraith	Liberal	1867	resigned August 1, 1872 to run (successfully) federally [14]
	William Clyde Caldwell (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected August 23, 1872 [15]
	Lanark South	Abraham Code	Conservative	1869
	Leeds North and Grenville North	Henry Merrick	Conservative	1871
	Leeds South	Herbert Stone MacDonald	Conservative	1871	resigned January 4, 1874 to accept an appointment as judge [16]
	John Godkin Giles (1873)	Conservative	1873	elected December 9, 1873 [17]
	Lennox	John Thomas Grange	Conservative	1871
	Lincoln	John Charles Rykert	Conservative	1867
	London	John Carling	Conservative	1867	Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works in Sandfield Macdonald ministry until December 20, 1871; resigned provincial seat July 23, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament [18]
	William Ralph Meredith (1872)	Conservative	1872	elected September 4, 1872 [19]
	Middlesex East	Richard Tooley	Conservative	1871
	Middlesex North	James Sinclair Smith	Liberal	1867
	Middlesex West	Alexander Mackenzie	Liberal	1871	Treasurer in Blake ministry from 20 December 1871 to October 25, 1872; resigned provincial seat September 12, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament [20]
	John Watterworth (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected September 17, 1872
	Monck	Lachlin McCallum	Conservative	1871	resigned August 2, 1872 to keep a seat in the federal parliament [21]
	Henry Ryan Haney (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected September 17, 1872 [22]
	Niagara	Stephen Richards	Conservative	1867	Commissioner of Crown Lands in Sandfield Macdonald ministry until December 20, 1871
	Norfolk North	John Fitzgerald Clarke	Liberal	1871
	Norfolk South	Simpson McCall	Liberal	1867
	Northumberland East	William Wilson Webb	Liberal	1871
	Northumberland West	Alexander Fraser	Liberal	1867
	Charles Gifford (1872)	Conservative	1872
	Ontario North	Thomas Paxton	Liberal	1867
	Ontario South	Abram Farewell	Liberal	1871
	Ottawa	Richard William Scott	Liberal	1867	Speaker until December 21, 1871; Commissioner of Crown Lands in Blake ministry after December 20, 1871 and in Mowat ministry after October 25, 1872; resigned December 4, 1873 to accept federal cabinet post in Mackenzie ministry [23]
	Daniel John O'Donoghue (1874)	Liberal	1874
	Oxford North	George Perry	Liberal	1867	resigned October 31, 1872 to allow Oliver Mowat a seat in the legislature
	Oliver Mowat (1872)	Liberal	1872	Premier and Attorney General in Mowat ministry after October 25, 1872; elected November 29, 1872 [24]
	Oxford South	Adam Oliver	Liberal	1867
	Peel	John Coyne	Conservative	1867	died November 16, 1873 [25]
	Kenneth Chisholm (1873)	Liberal	1873	elected December 29, 1873 [26]
	Perth North	Andrew Monteith	Conservative	1867	resigned from provincial parliament January 19, 1874 after he was elected to the federal parliament [27]
	Thomas Mayne Daly (1874)	Conservative	1874
	Perth South	Thomas B. Guest	Conservative	1871
	Peterborough East	George Read	Conservative	1867
	Peterborough West	Thomas McCulloch Fairbairn	Liberal	1871	died May 13, 1874 [28]
	William Hepburn Scott (1874)	Conservative	1874	elected July 30, 1874 [29]
	Prescott	George Wellesley Hamilton	Conservative	1871
	Prince Edward	James Simeon McCuaig	Conservative	1871	resigned August 29, 1872 to run (unsuccessfully) for a federal seat [30]
	Gideon Striker (1871)	Liberal	1871
	Renfrew North	Thomas Deacon	Conservative	1871
	Renfrew South	Eric Harrington	Conservative	1871
	Russell	William Craig	Conservative	1867
	Simcoe North	William Davis Ardagh	Conservative	1871
	Simcoe South	Thomas Roberts Ferguson	Conservative	1867	resigned January 18, 1874 due to health problems [31]
	D'Arcy Edward Boulton (1873)	Conservative	1873
	Stormont	William Colquhoun	Conservative	1867	Colquhoun's election was declared void September 12, 1871, resulting in a by-election [32]
	James Bethune (1872)	Liberal	1872	elected January 3, 1872 [33]
	Toronto East	Matthew Crooks Cameron	Conservative	1867	Provincial Secretary and Registrar in Sandfield Macdonald ministry until December 20, 1871 Leader of the Opposition after December 20, 1871
	Toronto West	Adam Crooks	Liberal	1871
	Victoria North	Duncan McRae	Conservative	1871
	Victoria South	Samuel Casey Wood	Liberal	1871
	Waterloo North	Moses Springer	Liberal	1867
	Waterloo South	Isaac Clemens	Liberal	1867
	Welland	James George Currie	Liberal	1871	Speaker from December 21, 1871 to his resignation on March 29, 1873.
	Wellington Centre	Charles Clarke	Liberal	1871
	Wellington North	Robert McKim	Liberal	1867	resigned January 19, 1874 to compete (unsuccessfully) in the 1874 federal election
	John McGowan (1874)	Conservative	1874
	Wellington South	Peter Gow	Liberal	1867	Provincial Secretary and Registrar in Blake ministry after December 20, 1871 and Mowat ministry after October 25, 1872
	Wentworth North	Robert Christie	Liberal	1867
	Wentworth South	William Sexton	Liberal	1867
	York East	Hugh Powell Crosby	Liberal	1867
	York North	Alfred Boultbee	Conservative	1871
	York West	Peter Patterson	Liberal	1871

References

• A History of Ontario : its resources and development., Alexander Fraser

1. "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
2. "Archibald McKellar | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1872-01-08. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
3. "Edmund Burke Wood | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1867-09-03. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
4. "Arthur Sturgis Hardy | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1877-03-29. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
5. "Edward Blake | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
6. "Rupert Mearse Wells | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". 21 September 1872.
7. "John Sandfield Macdonald | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
8. "John Goodall Snetsinger | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
9. "Mcneil Clarke | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1867-09-03. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
10. "Christopher Finlay Fraser | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
11. "Robert Gibbons | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
12. "Archibald Bishop | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1873-10-16. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
13. "Timothy Blair Pardee | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
14. "Daniel Galbraith | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
15. "William Clyde Caldwell | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
16. "Herbert Stone MacDonald | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
17. "John Godkin Giles | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1873-12-09. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
18. "John Carling | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
19. "William Ralph Meredith | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
20. "Alexander Mackenzie | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
21. "Lachlin McCallum | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
22. "Henry Ryan Haney | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
23. "Richard William Scott | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
24. "Oliver Mowat | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
25. "John Coyne | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
26. "Kenneth Chisholm | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
27. "Andrew Monteith | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
28. "Thomas McCulloch Fairbairn | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
29. "William Hepburn Scott | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
30. "James Simeon McCuaig | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
31. "Thomas Roberts Ferguson | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
32. "William Colquhoun | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
33. "James Bethune | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.