Robert Baldwin was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada,led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. "Responsible Government" marked the province's democratic self-government,without a revolution,although not without violence. This achievement also included the introduction of municipal government,the introduction of a modern legal system and the Canadian jury system,and the abolishing of imprisonment for debt. Baldwin is also noted for feuding with the Orange Order and other fraternal societies. The Lafontaine-Baldwin government enacted the Rebellion Losses Bill to compensate Lower Canadians for damages suffered during the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838. The passage of the Bill outraged Anglo-Canadian Tories in Montreal,resulting in the burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal in 1849.
William Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact,a term used to identify elite members of Upper Canada. He represented York County in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada and aligned with Reformers. He led the rebels in the Upper Canada Rebellion;after its defeat,he unsuccessfully rallied American support for an invasion of Upper Canada as part of the Patriot War. Although popular for criticising government officials,he failed to implement most of his policy objectives. He is one of the most recognizable Reformers of the early 19th century.
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years,it was the rebellion in Lower Canada,which started the previous month,that emboldened rebels in Upper Canada to revolt.
Charles Duncombe was a leader in the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837 and subsequent Patriot War. He was an active Reform politician in the 1830s,and produced several important legislative reports on banking,lunatic asylums,and education.
Clergy reserves were tracts of land in Upper Canada and Lower Canada reserved for the support of "Protestant clergy" by the Constitutional Act of 1791. One-seventh of all surveyed Crown lands were set aside,totaling 2,395,687 acres (9,695 km2) and 934,052 acres (3,780 km2) respectively for each Province,and provision was made to dedicate some of those reserved lands as glebe land in support of any parsonage or rectory that may be established by the Church of England. The provincial legislatures could vary or repeal these provisions,but royal assent could not be given before such passed bills having been laid before both houses of the British Parliament for at least thirty days.
The Bank of the People was created by radical Reform politicians James Lesslie,James Hervey Price,and Dr John Rolph in Toronto in 1835. It was founded after they failed to establish a "Provincial Loan Office" in which farmers could borrow small sums guaranteed by their land holdings. The Bank of the People was the only bank in Upper Canada not to suspend payments during the financial panic of 1837-8. Many of the shareholders,however,took part in the Rebellion of 1837 and the Family Compact plotted to have it taken over by the Bank of Montreal in 1840.
Samuel Lount was a blacksmith,farmer,magistrate and member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Upper Canada for Simcoe County from 1834 to 1836. He was an organizer of the failed Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837,for which he was hanged as a traitor. His execution made him a martyr to the Upper Canadian Reform movement.
Thomas David Morrison was a doctor and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Quebec City around 1796 and worked as a clerk in the medical department of the British Army during the War of 1812. He studied medicine in the United States and returned to York in 1824 to become a doctor in Upper Canada. He treated patients and served on the Toronto Board of Health during the 1832 and 1834 cholera outbreaks and co-founded the York Dispensary. In 1834 he was elected to the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada,representing the third riding of York County as part of the reform movement. That same year he was elected as an alderman to the Toronto City Council and reelected the subsequent two years. In 1836,he served a term as mayor of Toronto.
William Warren Baldwin was a doctor,businessman,lawyer,judge,architect and reform politician in Upper Canada. He,and his son Robert Baldwin,are recognized for having introduced the concept of "responsible government",the principle of cabinet rule on which Canadian democracy is based.
John Rolph was a Canadian physician,lawyer,and political figure. He was elected to the Parliament of Upper Canada in 1824 to represent Middlesex County and was considered the leader of the Reform faction in the 1820s. In 1837 he helped plan the Upper Canada Rebellion,but acted as the government's emissary to negotiate a truce once the rebellion began. In the 1850s he was elected to the newly-formed Parliament of the Province of Canada,representing Norfolk County,and was appointed as Minister of Crown Lands and Minister of Agriculture. He founded several medical schools throughout his life,including the Rolph School,and incorporated new teaching techniques and medical practices into his lectures. His actions against rival medical schools decreased public confidence in the ability of medical professionals to regulate themselves.
Henry John Boulton,was a lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada and the Province of Canada,as well as Chief Justice of Newfoundland.
Robert Randal was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada and the United States. He was born in the United States and convicted of attempting to bribe members of the United States Congress in order to buy the lower Michigan peninsula. He bought mills and acres of land in Upper Canada. However,his businesses were unsuccessful and sold to British creditors. He was arrested in Montreal and he was sued for unpaid debts. He hired G. D'Arcy Boulton as his lawyer to protect his properties,but the delay in court proceedings put him in debt with the lawyers,causing more of his properties to be sold to pay his debts.
John McIntosh was a Scottish-Canadian businessman,ship's captain and political figure in Upper Canada. He was a leading figure of the Upper Canadian reform movement,and was described by his contemporaries as a moderate reformer. He was elected to the province's legislature in 1834,but was unable to be elected to the parliament of the Province of Canada in 1841. He continued supporting reformers,allowing William Lyon Mackenzie to stay in his home upon Mackenzie's return to Canada in 1849.
James Lesslie was an Ontario bookseller,reform politician and newspaper publisher. His career was closely associated with - and somewhat overshadowed by - William Lyon Mackenzie,the Reform agitator,mayor of Toronto,and Rebellion leader. However,as a leader himself,Lesslie took a prominent role in founding the Mechanics Institute,the House of Refuge &Industry,the Bank of the People,as well as the political parties known as the Canadian Alliance Society and Clear Grits. In many way,he defined the Reform movement in Upper Canada without having reverted to the violent methods of Mackenzie. His legacy may thus have lasted longer.
David Willson (1778–1866) was a religious and political leader who founded the Quaker sect known as,'The Children of Peace' or 'Davidites,' based at Sharon in York County,Upper Canada in 1812. As the primary minister to this group,he led them in constructing a series of remarkable buildings,the best known of which is the Sharon Temple,now a National Historic Site of Canada. A prolific writer,sympathizer and leader of the movement for political reform in Upper Canada,Willson,together with his followers,ensured the election of William Lyon Mackenzie,and both "fathers of Responsible Government",Robert Baldwin and Louis LaFontaine,in their riding.
Franklin Jackes was an early Torontonian politician of the Reform movement.
The Children of Peace (1812–1889) was an Upper Canadian Quaker sect under the leadership of David Willson,known also as 'Davidites',who separated during the War of 1812 from the Yonge Street Monthly Meeting in what is now Newmarket,Ontario,and moved to the Willsons' farm. Their last service was held in the Sharon Temple in 1889.
The Reform movement in Upper Canada was a political movement in British North America in the mid-19th century.
There were two types of corporations at work in the Upper Canadian economy:the legislatively chartered companies and the unregulated joint stock companies. These two business forms had different legal standing;chartered corporations had a "separate personality" - they were a legal person quite distinct from its members or shareholders,a legal fiction which protected those shareholders with limited liability. In contrast,joint stock companies were made illegal by the English Bubble Act of 1720. Joint stock companies were considered extensive partnerships under common law,and English legislation limited these to a maximum of six partners. Without incorporation,the company was not considered a "separate personality." It could not hold property;this was held by trustees,who usually had to provide a bond or security. Without incorporation,the company could neither sue nor be sued at law. And without incorporation,shareholders were personally responsible for the debts to the company to the full extent of their personal property;shareholders were not protected by limited liability. There were,then,significant legal hurdles that made the joint stock company an unwieldy form of partnership.
