Oxford (Province of Canada electoral district)
 Province of Canada electoral district | |
|---|---|
| Defunct pre-Confederation electoral district | |
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada |
| District created | 1841 |
| District abolished | 1867 |
| First contested | 1841 |
| Last contested | 1863 |
Oxford was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada West (now Ontario). It was created in 1841, upon the establishment of the Province of Canada by the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Oxford was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was split into two ridings in the redistribution of 1853.
Boundaries
[edit]Oxford electoral district was based on Oxford County, west of what is now Toronto and inland from Lake Erie, on the Ontario Peninsula. Woodstock was the county seat and major centre.
The Union Act, 1840 had 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.[1] However, the Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[2]
Oxford County had been an electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada.[3] Its boundaries were not altered by the Union Act. Those boundaries had originally been set by a statute of Upper Canada in 1798:
That the townships of Burford, Norwich, Dereham, Oxford upon the Thames, Blandford and Blenheim, do constitute and form the County of Oxford.[4]
Since Oxford electoral district was not changed by the Union Act, those boundaries continued to be used for the new electoral district. Oxford was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[2]
Members of the Legislative Assembly
[edit]Oxford was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[2] The following were the members for Oxford.
| Parliament | Years | Members[5] | Party[6] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Parliament 1841–1844 |
1841–1844 | _1.125_FRANCIS_HINCKS.jpg)
|
Francis Hincks | Unionist; Ultra Reformer |
Abolition
[edit]Oxford electoral district was split into two separate ridings in the redistribution of 1853: Oxford North and Oxford South.
References
[edit]- ^ Union Act, 1840, 3 & 4 Vict. (UK), c. 35, s. 2.
- ^ a b c Union Act, 1840, s. 16.
- ^ Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada, from the eighth day of November, 1836, to the fourth day of March, 1837, p. 15 (November 8, 1836).
- ^ An act for the better division of this province, SUC 1798 (38 Geo. III), c. 5, s. 35. Reprinted in The Statutes of Upper Canada to the Time of Union, Revised and Published by Authority, Vol. I - Public Acts (Toronto: Robert Stanton, Queen's Printer, 1843).
- ^ J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860, (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43-58.
- ^ For 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.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: An act for the better division of this province, SUC 1798, c. 5, s. 35.
