| Sherbrooke County Canada East | |
| Province: | Province of Canada |
| Prov-Status: | defunct |
| Prov-Created: | 1841 |
| Prov-Abolished: | 1867 |
| Prov-Election-First: | 1841 |
| Prov-Election-Last: | 1863 |
Sherbrooke County was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East. It was located in the Eastern Townships, based on the rural areas around the town of Sherbrooke. The town was a separate electoral district, also named Sherbrooke.
Sherbrooke County electoral district was created in 1841, based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1853, and replaced by two new districts, a new Sherbrooke County and a new Wolfe County, which jointly sent one member to the Assembly. The new district was re-named Richmond and Wolfe in 1855.
Sherbrooke County electoral district was located in the Eastern Townships (now the Estrie administrative region). The town of Sherbrooke was the major centre, but was not part of the Sherbrooke County electoral district. The town was a separate electoral district, also named Sherbrooke. Sherbrooke County was largely rural, and extended from the town of Sherbrooke south to the border with the United States.
The Union Act, 1840 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 Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[1]
The Lower Canada electoral district of Sherbrooke County was not altered by the Act. It was therefore continued with the same boundaries in the new Parliament. Those boundaries had been set by a statute of Lower Canada in 1829:
Sherbrooke County was a single-member constituency, which was in existence from 1841 to 1854.[1]
The following were the members of the Legislative Assembly for Sherbrooke County. The party affiliations are based on the biographies of individual members given by the National Assembly of Quebec, as well as votes in the Legislative Assembly. "Party" was a fluid concept, especially during the early years of the Province of Canada.[2] [3] [4]
| Parliament | Members | Years in Office | Party | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Parliament 1841–1844 | John Moore | 1841–1844 | Unionist; Tory (1841–1842) "British" Tory (1843) | |||||
| 2nd Parliament 1844–1847 | Samuel Brooks | 1844–1847 | "British" Tory | |||||
| 3rd Parliament 1848–1851 | Samuel Brooks | 1848–1849 | "British" Tory | |||||
| Alexander Tilloch Galt | 1849–1850 | Moderate Independent | ||||||
| John Sewell Sanborn | 1850–1851 | Liberal Independent | ||||||
| 4th Parliament 1851–1854 | John Sewell Sanborn | 1851–1854 | Liberal Independent | |||||
The district was abolished in 1853, to take effect at the next general elections in 1854. It was replaced by a new Sherbrooke County and a new Wolfe County, which jointly elected one member. Sherbrooke County was re-named Richmond County in 1855. The united counties of Richmond and Wolfe continued in existence until Confederation in 1867.[5] [6]