Essex (Province of Canada electoral district) explained

Essex
Canada West
Province:Province of Canada
Prov-Status:defunct
Prov-Created:1841
Prov-Abolished:1867
Prov-Election-First:1841
Prov-Election-Last:1863

Essex was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada West, at the south-western tip of the Ontario Peninsula. It was created in 1841, upon the establishment of the Province of Canada by the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Essex was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Ontario.

Boundaries

Essex electoral district was located at the southwestern tip of the Ontario Peninsula. It was based on the boundaries of Essex County, in Canada West (now the province of Ontario).

The Union Act, 1840 had 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.Union Act, 1840, 3 & 4 Vict., c. 35, s. 2. The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[1]

Essex County had been an electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada,[2] and its boundaries were not altered by the Act. Those boundaries had originally been set by a proclamation of the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, in 1792:

The boundaries had been further defined by a statute of Upper Canada in 1798:

Since Essex electoral district was not changed by the Union Act, those boundaries continued to be used for the new electoral district. Essex was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[1]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Essex was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[1] The following were the members for Essex:

ParliamentYearsMember[3] Party[4]
1st Parliament1841–1844John Prince, QCUnionist; Independent Reformer
2nd Parliament1844–1847
3rd Parliament1848–1851
4th Parliament1851–1854
5th Parliament1854–1857Arthur RankinConservative
6th Parliament1858–1861John McLeodConservative
7th Parliament1861–1863Arthur RankinConservative
8th Parliament1863–1867

Abolition

The district was abolished on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force, creating Canada and splitting the Province of Canada into Quebec and Ontario.[5] It was succeeded by electoral districts of the same name in the House of Commons of Canada[6] and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[7]

References


.

42.1667°N -129°W

Notes and References

  1. https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/ua_1840.html Union Act, 1840, s. 16.
  2. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00941_13/15?r=0&s=2 Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, from the eighth day of November, 1836, to the fourth day of March, 1837, p. 15 (November 8, 1836).
  3. https://archive.org/details/politicalappoint00cotj_0/page/42 J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860, (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43-58.
  4. For party affiliations, see Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 93-111.
  5. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/section-6.html#h-2 British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), s. 6.
  6. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/section-40.html#h-6 Constitution Act, 1867, s. 40, para. 2
  7. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/section-70.html#h-12 Constitution Act, 1867, s. 70.