John Graves Simcoe was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded York,which is now known as Toronto,and was instrumental in introducing institutions such as courts of law,trial by jury,English common law,freehold land tenure,and also in the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada.
The Province of Upper Canada was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain,to govern the central third of the lands in British North America,formerly part of the Province of Quebec since 1763. Upper Canada included all of modern-day Southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the Pays d'en Haut which had formed part of New France,essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River or Lakes Huron and Superior,excluding any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay. The "upper" prefix in the name reflects its geographic position along the Great Lakes,mostly above the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River,contrasted with Lower Canada to the northeast.
York was a town and the second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of Upper Canada,while he made plans to build a capital near today's London,Ontario. Simcoe renamed the location York after Prince Frederick,Duke of York and Albany,George III's second son. Simcoe gave up his plan to build a capital at London,and York became the permanent capital of Upper Canada on February 1,1796. That year Simcoe returned to Britain and was temporarily replaced by Peter Russell.
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political,economic and judicial power in Upper Canada from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in Lower Canada. It was noted for its conservatism and opposition to democracy.
Events from the year 1796 in Canada.
Samuel Johannes Holland was a Dutch-born Royal Engineer and first Surveyor General of British North America.
The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county system in 1849.
The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada,functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lieutenant Governor,Executive Council,and Legislative Council.
Christopher Robinson was a Virginia-born soldier,lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada.
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.
The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords,it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist of at least seven members. Members were appointed for life but could be dropped for non-attendance. The first nine members of the council were appointed on 12 July 1792. The speaker was usually the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench. The Legislative Council was dissolved on 10 February 1841 when Upper and Lower Canada were united into the Province of Canada. Some members were reappointed to the Legislative Council of the united Province.
Colonel The Hon. John Simcoe Macaulay was a businessman and political figure in Upper Canada. In 1845,before retiring to England,he donated the land on which the Church of the Holy Trinity (Toronto) was built.
James Macaulay M.D.,J.P. was the Chief Medical Officer of Upper Canada;a landowner and Justice of the Peace for York,Upper Canada.
William Macomb was a British colonial merchant and fur trader in the Detroit,Michigan area before and after the American Revolutionary War. He got his start as a young man in the colony of New York. He was a brother of Alexander Macomb,and the two were partners in Detroit.
Samuel Street was a Canadian judge,merchant and political figure in Upper Canada. He was born in Wilton,Connecticut and traded with indigenous people during the American Revolution. He moved to Fort Niagara and opened a business to provide supplies to the British and later trade with indigenous people and the Indian Department. He was also a land speculator for the Niagara area. In 1796 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in the constituency of the 2nd riding of Lincoln and became speaker of the legislature in 1800. He lost his subsequent campaign for reelection but was elected to the constituency of the 3rd riding of Lincoln in 1808 and was elected again to become the speaker. During the War of 1812 he became a paymaster for Oxford and Lincoln militias and was appointed as acting deputy paymaster for the British militia. He died in Thorold,Upper Canada.
Thomas Ridout was a political figure in Upper Canada.
Augustus Jones was a North American-born Upper Canadian farmer,land speculator,magistrate,militia captain and surveyor. Jones trained as a surveyor in New York City,and fled as a United Empire Loyalist to Upper Canada. In Upper Canada,he worked as a crown surveyor in the Nassau District,where he quickly rose to the position of Deputy Surveyor General,the highest position in a district of Upper Canada. He occupied that position from 1789 informally,and 1791 formally,until his retirement in 1799. During that time he laid down many of the township boundaries in the Niagara Peninsula and on the north shore of Lake Ontario. He led various teams that cut many of the first sideroads and concession roads into these areas,facilitating their settlement by European and American immigrants. Jones also surveyed the routes for Dundas Street and Yonge Street,and supervised their construction. After his retirement,Jones farmed first in Saltfleet Township,later moving to Brantford and finally an estate outside Paris named Cold Springs,where he died in 1836.
Lt.-Colonel Joseph Bouchette was the Canadian Surveyor-General of British North America. His book,Topographical Description of the Province of Lower Canada was published at London in 1815 and also translated into French. It contained the sum knowledge of the territory at that time. The township of Bouchette,Quebec,was named for him. During the War of 1812 he raised and commanded the Quebec Volunteers. In 1813,he was gazetted Lt. Colonel on the Staff of Governor-General Sir George Prévost.
The Huron Tract Purchase also known as the Huron Block,registered as Crown Treaty Number 29,is a large area of land in southwestern Ontario bordering on Lake Huron to the west and Lake Erie to the east. The area spans the counties of Huron,Perth,Middlesex and present day Lambton County,Ontario in the province of Ontario.
Durham was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada,in Canada West,on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It was created in 1841,upon the establishment of the Province of Canada by the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Durham was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1867,upon the creation of Canada and the province of Ontario.
