Midland District, Upper Canada Explained

Midland District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and partitioned in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada.

Historical evolution

The District, originally known as Mecklenburg District (named after Mecklenburg Castle in the Mecklenburg region of Germany), was constituted in 1788 in the Province of Quebec, and was described as:

In 1792, the following electoral counties were established in the District:^[1]

• Addington
• Frontenac
• Hastings
• Lennox
• Ontario
• Prince Edward

The District was renamed as "Midland District" in 1792, and its jail and courthouse were established in Kingston.^[2]

At the beginning of 1800, Lennox and Addington were combined to form the incorporated counties of Lennox and Addington, and the islands comprising Ontario were divided between Frontenac and Lennox and Addington.^[3] The general boundaries of the District were also altered so that it comprised:

In 1829, Hugh Macdonald (the father of future first Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, who at the time would have been ~14 years old) was appointed magistrate for the Midland District. ^[4]

Prince Edward County was separated in 1831 to form Prince Edward District,^[5] and Hastings County was split off in 1837 to form Victoria District.^[6] Lennox and Addington regained their separate identities in 1845, but still remained united for electoral purposes.^[7]

At the beginning of 1850, the district was abolished, and the United Counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington replaced it for municipal and judicial purposes.^[8]

See also

• Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute - founded in 1807 as Midland Grammar School replacing Kingston Grammar School (c. 1792)

Further reading

• Armstrong, Frederick H. Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology. Toronto : Dundurn Press, 1985.
• Changing Shape of Ontario: Early Districts and Counties

References

44.6667°N -87°W

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=b7RKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA25 Proclamation of July 16, 1792
2. An act for building a gaol and court house in every district within this province, and for altering the names of the said districts. S.U.C.. 1792. 8. 3, 11. https://books.google.ca/books?id=b7RKAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA24&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q&f=false.
3. An act for the better division of this province. S.U.C.. 1798. 5. 11-18. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t42r4wr64?urlappend=%3Bseq=156.
4. .

   See second paragraph of the first headed section: "Early years, 1815-1830"

5. An Act to erect the County of Prince Edward into a separate District. S.U.C.. 1831. 6. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924016981775?urlappend=%3Bseq=455.
6. An Act to authorize the erection of the County of Hastings into a separate District. S.U.C.. 1837. 31. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924016981775?urlappend=%3Bseq=477.
7. An Act for better defining the limits of the Counties and Districts in Upper Canada, for erecting certain new Townships, for detaching Townships from some Counties and attaching them to others, and for other purposes relative to the division of Upper Canada into Townships, Counties and Districts. S.Prov.C.. 1845. 7. B. https://archive.org/stream/provincialstatu03canagoog#page/n113/mode/1up.
8. An Act for abolishing the Territorial Division of Upper-Canada into Districts, and for providing temporary Unions of Counties for Judicial and other purposes, and for the future dissolutions of such Unions, as the increase of wealth and population may require. S.Prov.C.. 1849. 78. A, B. https://books.google.ca/books?id=ulQ1AQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA55&pg=PA439#v=onepage&q&f=false.