Lieutenant-General 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.
Sir George Yonge,5th Baronet,KCB,PC,FRS,of Escot House in the parish of Talaton in Devon,England,was a British Secretary at War. He succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1755,which became extinct when he died without children. He is remembered by,among other things,the name of Yonge Street,a principal road in what is now Toronto,Canada,so named in 1793 by the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada,John Graves Simcoe.
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.
Prideaux Selby was an English soldier and political figure in Upper Canada.
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.
Thomas Ridout was a political figure in Upper Canada.
General Charles Grey was a British army officer,member of the British House of Commons and political figure in Lower Canada. In later life,he served as private secretary to Prince Albert and later Queen Victoria.
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.
John George Howard was the official surveyor and civil engineer for the government of Toronto in Upper Canada and later Canada. He was also the first professional architect in Toronto. He designed numerous public,commercial and residential buildings during the 19th century. In addition,he was the principal donor of High Park to the people of Toronto.
Richard Birdsall was a British born Upper Canadian land surveyor,land agent,politician,justice of the peace,and militia officer. Born in rural Yorkshire,England,he emigrated to Upper Canada in 1817,settling initially in the Township of Vaughan. Birdsall received a license for land surveying in 1819 and began his career that same year. Birdsall would go on to survey many areas in Newcastle District as well as other parts of what is now Southern Ontario,establishing the boundaries of many townships of the province and laying out the roads and farming lots within them.
