Rouville was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East (now Quebec). It was located in a rural area south of Montreal, bordering on the Richelieu River. The district was created in 1841 and was based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. It was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.

In 1853, the provincial Parliament redrew the electoral map. The boundaries for Rouville were altered to some extent in the new map, which came into force for the 1854 general elections.

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

Boundaries

The electoral district of Rouville was south of Montreal (now in Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality), extending to the border with the United States.

1841 to 1854

The Union Act, 1840, passed by the British Parliament, merged the two provinces of Lower Canada and Upper 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 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.Union Act, 1840, s. 18. The Rouville electoral district of Lower Canada was not altered by the Act, and therefore continued with the same boundaries which had been set by a statute of Lower Canada in 1829:

1854 to 1867

In 1853, the Parliament of the Province of Canada passed a new electoral map. The boundaries of Rouville were altered to some extent by the new map, which came into force in the general elections of 1854:

Members of the Legislative Assembly (1841–1867)

Rouville was a single-member constituency.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 for Rouville. 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.Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015) pp. 93–111.

Parliament Members Years in OfficeParty 1st Parliament1841–1844 Melchior-Alphonse d'Irumberry de Salaberry 1841–1842 Unionist and Government supporter William Walker 1842–1843 (by-election) "British" Tory Timothée Franchère 1843—1844 (by-election) French-Canadian Group 2nd Parliament 1844–1847 Timothée Franchère 1844–1847 French-Canadian Group 3rd Parliament 1848–1851 Pierre Davignon 1848–1851 French-Canadian Group 4th Parliament 1851–1853 Joseph-Napoléon Poulin 1851–1853 Ministerialist 5th Parliament 1854–1857 Joseph-Napoléon Poulin 1854–1856 Ministerialist William Henry Chaffers 1856–1857 (by-election) Rouge 6th Parliament 1858–1861 Thomas Edmund Campbell 1858–1861 Conservative 7th Parliament 1861–1863 Lewis Thomas Drummond 1861–1863 Rouge 8th Parliament 1863–1867 Joseph-Napoléon Poulin 1863–1867 Confederation; Bleu

Notes

Significant elections

In the first general election for the new Parliament, the Rouville seat was won by Melchior-Alphonse de Salaberry, who narrowly defeated Timothée Franchère. The election was marked by considerable violence, with one death. De Salaberry was a strong supporter of the government of Lord Sydenham, the Governor General. He was also one of only two Canadiens elected who supported the union. The other was Alexandre-Maurice Delisle, elected in Montreal County.Pierre Gagnon, "Salaberry, Melchior-Alphonse de", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. IX (1861–1870), University of Toronto / Université Laval.

However, the next year, De Salaberry accepted the lucrative position of Clerk of the Court for the district of Richelieu. Since this position was an office of profit under the Crown, the law required that de Salaberry vacate his seat. De Salaberry stood as a candidate in the resulting by-election, but was defeated by William Walker. Although Walker supported the British connection, he was a strong opponent of the union, and a fierce critic of Lord Sydenham's government. The by-election thus shifted the position in the Legislative Assembly somewhat.Carman Miller, "Walker, William", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. VII (1836–1850), University of Toronto / Université Laval.

The situation changed again in the next year, 1843. Walker was forced to resign his seat due to ill-health (and indeed died the following year). In the resulting by-election, Franchère was elected. Since he opposed the union and supported the Groupe canadien-français, the by-election again shifted the overall standings in the Legislative Assembly.

Abolition

The district 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. It was succeeded by electoral districts of the same name and boundaries in the House of Commons of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.British North America Act, 1867 (now the Constitution Act, 1867), s. 6.Constitution Act, 1867, s. 40, para. 2.Constitution Act, 1867, s. 80.

See also List of elections in the Province of Canada

References