# Legislative Council of Lower Canada

The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the Parliament of Lower Canada from 1792 until 1838. The Legislative Council consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. The legislative council was created by the Constitutional Act. Many of the members first called in the Council in 1792 had served as councillors in the Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec.
The council came to be dominated by the Château Clique, members of the province's most powerful families who were generally interested in preserving the status quo. Both the upper and lower houses were dissolved on March 27, 1838 following the Lower Canada Rebellion and Lower Canada was administered by an appointed Special Council.
Following the Act of Union in 1840, the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was created in 1841.

## Legislative buildings

* Old Parliament Building (Quebec)

## List of Members of the Legislative Council

| Member | Appointed to the Chamber | End of Term |
| Adam Mabane | 1792 | 1792 (January 3) |
| François-Marie Picoté de Belestre | 1792 | 1792 (March 30) |
| William Smith (Speaker 1791-1793) | 1792 | 1793 (December 6) |
| Edward Harrison | 1792 | 1794 (October 15) |
| John Collins | 1792 | 1795 (April 15) |
| John Fraser | 1792 | 1795 (December 5) |
| Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry | 1792 | 1797 (December 11) |
| Hugh Finlay | 1792 | 1801 (December 26) |
| Joseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil | 1792 | 1807 (January 19) |
| Charles-Louis Tarieu de Lanaudière | 1792 | 1811 (October 2) |
| René-Amable Boucher de Boucherville | 1792 | 1812 (August 31) |
| Paul-Roch de Saint-Ours | 1792 | 1814 (August 11) |
| Thomas Dunn (Speaker 1797-1801; 1805; 1808; 1811-1815?) | 1792 | 1818 (April 15) |
| François Baby (Speaker 1806) | 1792 | 1820 (October 6) |
| George Pownall | 1792 | 1834 (October 17) |
| Henry Caldwell | 1793 (February 5) | 1810 (May 28) |
| Jacob Mountain | 1793 (July 7) | 1825 (June 16) |
| William Osgoode (Speaker 1794-1797) | 1795 (January 5) | 1824 (January 17) |
| James Monk (Speaker 1802; 1815-1816) | 1795 (January 5) | 1820 (June ) |
| John Johnson | 1796 | 1830 (January 4) |
| Michel-Eustache-Gaspard-Alain Chartier de Lotbinière | 1796 | 1822 (January 1) |
| Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau | 1798 | 1809 (September 18) |
| Jenkin Williams | 1803 (February 8) | 1819 (October 30) |
| John Elmsley (Speaker 1803-1804) | 1803 (February 8) | 1805 (April 29) |
| Henry Allcock (Speaker 1807-1808) | 1807 (January 21) | 1808 (February 22) |
| Jonathan Sewell (Speaker 1809-1810; 1817; 1819-1826; 1829-1830; 1833-1838) | 1808 | 1838 (March 27) |
| Charles de Saint-Ours | 1808 (December 2) | 1834 (November 11) |
| John Hale (Speaker 1818; 1831) | 1808 (December 3) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Antoine-Louis Juchereau Duchesnay | 1810 (December 12) | 1825 (February 17) |
| Sir John Caldwell (Speaker 1831-1833?) | 1811 (December 15) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Herman Witsius Ryland | 1811 (December 17) | 1838 (March 27) |
| James Cuthbert | 1811 (December 18) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Charles-Gaspard Tarieu de Lanaudière | 1811 (December 19) | 1812 (June 7) |
| Charles William Grant | 1811 (December 21) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Pierre-Ignace Aubert de Gaspé | 1812 | 1823 (February 13) |
| Jacques-Nicolas Perrault | 1812 (January) | 1812 (August 7) |
| John Blackwood | 1813 (April 9) | 1819 (June 24) |
| Pierre-Dominique Debartzch | 1814 (January 17) | 1838 (March 27) |
| William McGillivray | 1814 (January 19) | 1825 (October 16) |
| Jean-Antoine Panet | 1815 (January) | 1815 (May 17) |
| John Richardson | 1816 (January 24) | 1831 (May 18) |
| Joseph-Octave Plessis | 1817 (April 30) | 1825 (December 4) |
| Roderick Mackenzie of Terrebonne | 1817 (May 10) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d'Irumberry de Salaberry | 1817 (December 4) | 1828 (March 22) |
| William Burns | 1818 (January 2) | 1829 (September 25) |
| Michael Henry Perceval | 1818 (January 10) | 1829 (October 12) |
| Olivier Perrault | 1818 (January 28) | 1827 (March 19) |
| Thomas-Pierre-Joseph Taschereau | 1818 (January 28) | 1826 (October 8) |
| William Scott | 1818 (January 29) | 1820 (January 11) |
| Louis-René Chaussegros de Léry | 1818 (February 9) | 1832 (November 28) |
| James Irvine | 1818 (February 20) | 1829 (September 20) |
| Louis Turgeon | 1818 (March 10) | 1827 (September 26) |
| Louis Gugy | 1818 (April 10) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry | 1818 (December 14) | 1829 (February 27) |
| James Kerr (Speaker 1827-1828) | 1821 (October 19) | 1838 (March 27) |
| William Bowman Felton | 1822 (April 6) | 1837 (June 30) |
| Mathew Bell | 1823 (April 30) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Edward Bowen | 1824 (February 27) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Toussaint Pothier | 1824 (July 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| John Stewart | 1825 (May 13) | 1838 (March 27) |
| John Forsyth | 1827 (July 3) | 1837 (December 27) |
| Charles James Stewart | 1828 (January) | 1837 (July 13) |
| Jean-Thomas Taschereau | 1828 (May 2) | 1832 (June 14) |
| Samuel Hatt | 1829 (November 29) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Denis-Benjamin Viger | 1829 (November 30) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Louis Guy | 1830 (December 20) | 1838 (March 27) |
| George Moffatt | 1830 (December 24) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Jacques-Philippe Saveuse de Beaujeu | 1831 (November 25) | 1832 (June 19) |
| François-Roch de Saint-Ours | 1832 (January 1) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Peter McGill | 1832 (January 3) | 1838 (March 27) |
| John Molson | 1832 (January 4) | 1836 (January 11) |
| Marc-Pascal de Sales Laterrière | 1832 (January 5) | 1838 (March 27) |
| François-Xavier Malhiot | 1832 (January 6) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Jean Dessaulles | 1832 (January 7) | 1835 (June 20) |
| Barthélemy Joliette | 1832 (January 8) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Pierre de Rastel de Rocheblave | 1832 (January 9) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Robert Unwin Harwood | 1832 (January 10) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Antoine-Gaspard Couillard | 1832 (January 11) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Jean-Baptiste Juchereau Duchesnay | 1832 (April 4) | 1833 (January 13) |
| James Baxter | 1832 (August) | 1837 (November 18) |
| Horatio Gates | 1832 (August 1) | 1834 (April 11) |
| Robert Jones | 1832 (August 2) | 1838 (March 27) |
| François Quirouet | 1833 (October 25) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Joseph Masson | 1834 (October 16) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Amable Dionne | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| René-Édouard Caron | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Janvier-Domptail Lacroix | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Gabriel Marchand | 1837 (August 22) | |
| John Neilson | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| John Pangman | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Melchior-Alphonse de Salaberry | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| Jean-Baptiste-René Hertel de Rouville | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |
| John Malcolm Fraser | 1837 (August 22) | 1838 (March 27) |

## Speakers

During much of the existence of the Legislative Council, the Chief Justice served as Speaker and others appointed to the role in absence of the Chief Justice.
* William Smith 1791-1793
* William Osgoode 1794-1797
* Thomas Dunn 1797-1801
* James Monk 1802
* John Elmsley 1803-1804
* Thomas Dunn 1805
* François Baby 1806
* Henry Allcock 1807-1808
* Thomas Dunn 1808
* Jonathan Sewell 1809-1810
* Thomas Dunn 1811-?
* James Monk 1815-1816
* Jonathan Sewell 1817
* John Hale 1818
* Jonathan Sewell 1819-1826
* James Kerr 1827-1828
* Jonathan Sewell 1829-1830
* John Hale 1831
* Sir John Caldwell 1831-?
* Jonathan Sewell 1833-1838
After the Rebellion, the Speaker was a member of the Special Council of Lower Canada:
* James Cuthbert, Jr. 1838
* Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet 1839-1841