Dorchester was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East. It was created in 1841, by the merger of two previous electoral districts of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, Dorchester and Beauce. The new district was south of Quebec City, and was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.

In 1853, the Parliament of the Province of Canada expanded the size of the Legislative Assembly. Canada East's representation increased from forty-two members to sixty-five members. In the redistribution of seats, the Dorchester riding was split into two ridings, with the new electoral district of Beauce carved off from Dorchester. The new electoral map came into force for the next general elections, in 1854.

Dorchester electoral district was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Quebec.

Boundaries 1841 to 1854

The Union Act, 1840, passed by the British Parliament, 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. (UK), c. 35, s. 2.

The Union Act provided that while many of the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, some electoral districts would be defined directly by the Union Act itself.Union Act, 1840, ss. 16, 18. Dorchester was one of those new electoral districts. The Union Act merged two previous electoral districts, the County of Dorchester and the County of Beauce, to create a new district, also called Dorchester.Union Act, 1840, s. 19.

Under the previous legislation, enacted in 1829, the former district of Dorchester had been based on the seigniory of Lauzon, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence, near Lévis.An Act to make a new and more convenient subdivision of the Province into Counties, for the purpose of effecting a more equal Representation thereof in the Assembly than heretofore, SLC 1829, c. 73, s. 1, paras. 7, 8.

The former district of Beauce had been immediately to the south east of the former district of Dorchester, and was defined as follows:

The effect of the Union Act provision was to merge those two sets of boundaries into one district. The Dorchester electoral district was thus south of Quebec City, between the Saint Lawrence and the border with the United States, in the current Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region.

1854 to 1867

In 1853, the Parliament of the Province of Canada expanded the Legislative Assembly. Canada East went from forty-two seats to sixty-five seats. As part of the redistribution of seats, Dorchester was split into two seats. The northern portion of the riding continued to be named Dorchester, while the southern portion was split into a new riding of Beauce.Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), p. 38.

The new boundaries for Dorchester were as follows:

Members of the Legislative Assembly (1841–1867)

Dorchester was a single-member constituency, represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.An Act to enlarge the Representation of the People of this Province in Parliament, s. 3.

The following were the members of the Legislative Assembly from Dorchester. 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.J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860 (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43–58.Québec Dictionary of Parliamentary Biography, from 1764 to the present.Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67, pp. 93–111.

Parliament Member Years in Office Party 1st Parliament1841–1844 Antoine-Charles Taschereau 1841–1844 Anti-unionist; French-Canadian Group 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada 1844–1847 Pierre-Elzéar Taschereau 1844–1845 French-Canadian Group Joseph-André Taschereau 1845–1847 (by-election) "British" Tory François-Xavier Lemieux 1847 French-Canadian Group 3rd Parliament 1848–1851 François-Xavier Lemieux 1848–1851 French-Canadian Group 4th Parliament 1851–1854 Ministerialist 5th Parliament 1854–1857 Barthélemy Pouliot 1854–1857 Bleu 6th Parliament 1858–1861 Hector-Louis Langevin 1858–1867 Bleu 7th Parliament 1861–1863 8th Parliament 1863–1867 Confederation; Bleu

Notes

Abolition

The Dorchester riding was abolished on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force, splitting the Province of Canada into Quebec and Ontario.British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), s. 6. It was succeeded by electoral districts of the same name in the House of Commons of CanadaConstitution Act, 1867, s. 40, para. 2. and the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.Constitution Act, 1867, s. 80.

See also List of elections in the Province of Canada

References