Bytown (Province of Canada electoral district)

Bytown was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The district represented the town of Bytown, in Canada West, which was re-named Ottawa in 1855. The electoral district was created in 1841, upon the establishment of the Province of Canada, from the merger of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. It was renamed to Ottawa following the renaming of the city.

Bytown was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Ontario.

Boundaries

Bytown electoral district was primarily centred on the town of Bytown, Canada West (now Ottawa, Ontario). It was located on the south shore of the Ottawa River, which was the boundary with Canada East, now the province of Quebec.

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. Prior to the Union, Bytown had been included in the electoral district of the County of Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada, but the Union Act provided that Bytown would constitute a separate electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of the new Parliament.Union Act, 1840, s. 17.

The Union Act gave the Governor General of the Province of Canada the power to draw the boundaries for the electoral district.Union Act, 1840, s. 21. The first Governor General, Lord Sydenham, issued a proclamation shortly after the formation of the Province of Canada in early 1841, establishing the boundaries for the electoral district:

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Bytown was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. The following were the members for Bytown.

Parliament Years MemberJ.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860, (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43-58. PartyFor party affiliations, see Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 93-111. 1st Parliament1841–1844 1841–1844 Stewart Derbishire Moderate Reformer2nd Parliament1844–1847 1844–1847 William Stewart Conservative 3rd Parliament1848–1851 1848–1851 John Scott Conservative 4th Parliament1852–1854 1852–1854 Daniel McLachlin Reformer 5th Parliament1854–1857 1854–1857 Agar Yielding Conservative 6th Parliament1858–1861 1858–1861Richard William Scott Liberal-Conservative 7th Parliament1861–1863 1861–1863 8th Parliament1863–1866 1863–1866 Joseph Merrill Currier Conservative

Significant elections

In the first general election of 1841, Lord Sydenham was actively involved. He took all possible steps to ensure that a majority of the members elected to the Legislative Assembly would be supporters of the union of the Canadas. During a tour of Canada West, he stopped in Bytown and urged three of the declared candidates for the seat to withdraw in favour of his preferred candidate, Stewart Derbishire, even though Derbishire had no connection to Bytown. As part of his arguments, Sydenham told them that it was due to his influence that Bytown had received its own seat, separate from Carleton County.Irving Martin Abella, "The 'Sydenham Election' of 1841", Canadian Historical Review (1966) 47:326-343. [Subscription needed.] The three candidates withdraw, but a fourth, William Stewart continued in his candidacy. When the vote was held in March, 1841, Derbishire was elected, by a vote of 52 to 29. Stewart issued two public protests, accusing the returning officer of partisanship, but did not formally contest the result.Hamnett Hill, K.C., "Bytown Election of 1841" (Ottawa: Historical Society of Ottawa / Société Historique d'Ottawa, Bytown Pamphlet Series No. 18, 1986).

Abolition

The district was abolished on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force, creating Canada and 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 Ontario.Constitution Act, 1867, s. 70.

References