Clergy Corporation
Encyclopedia
The Clergy Corporation, or the Clergy Reserve Corporation of Upper Canada, existed to oversee, manage and lease the Clergy reserve
s of Upper Canada
, a large amount of land in Upper Canada that had been put aside for the Anglican and later Protestant churches. The main operations of the Corporation were to collect rents on these lands, receive petitions, answer inquiries and settle all disputes arising from the clergy land.
Sir Peregrine Maitland
in 1819. Its origin stemmed from a strict interpretation of the Constitutional Act of 1791
by the Family Compact
, led by John Strachan
, to keep the clergy reserves for the Church of England.
The new Corporation had twelve members: the Bishop
of Quebec
, who acted as chair, both the Inspector and Surveyors General, the Rectors of York
, Kingston
, Niagara
, Grimsby
, Cornwall
, Ancaster
, Hamilton
and Newcastle
, and two other members of the Anglican clergy. The Corporation directed the local sheriffs to collect the various rents.
The first meeting of the Corporation was held at York
on 25 March 1820. Stephen Heward, who was Auditor General
of Land Patents, was appointed Secretary Receiver of the Corporation. Five years later the Executive Council ordered that the Corporation should cease making any new leases of the reserves, as it had been thought that the land would be sold to the Canada Company
. This option was championed by Egerton Ryerson
, who was upset at the state of the reserves and wanted them to be available to the Methodists. In August 1828 Heward, the Secretary Receiver, died and was succeeded by George Herchmer Markland
.
The issuance of new leases resumed in April 1829. However this only continued until 1832, when the Lieutenant Governor
advised the Corporation to discontinue the issuance of leases after a bill was passed to combine the clergy reserves with Crown land
. At this point, Markland was appointed Inspector General and a new Secretary Receiver, Thomas Baines, was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
in 1833. With no new leases being issued, the actions of the Corporation were confined to overseeing former leases, which had not yet become very lucrative. Baines undertook a plan to change this and appointed Clerks of the Peace as District Commissioners to undertake a survey of each individual lot in Upper Canada.
The result of this was a huge increase in lease revenues, but the full amount of rent was still unattained. In view of this and increased pressure against the idea of Anglican clergy lands held by the Family Compact
, the Executive Council
decided in 1838 to dissolve the Corporation and to transfer Baines into the Crown Lands Department, where he would continue to oversee the collection of payments in arrears on clergy reserve leases and oversee the sale of Crown land
in Upper Canada. At this point both the Clergy Corporation and the Clergy Reserves were largely dissolved; the lands were officially secularized in 1854.
Clergy reserve
Clergy Reserves were tracts of land in Upper Canada reserved for the support of "Protestant clergy" by the Constitutional Act of 1791 which also established Upper and Lower Canada as distinct regions each with an elected assembly. One-seventh of all Crown lands were set aside...
s of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, a large amount of land in Upper Canada that had been put aside for the Anglican and later Protestant churches. The main operations of the Corporation were to collect rents on these lands, receive petitions, answer inquiries and settle all disputes arising from the clergy land.
History
The Corporation began as a body in 1818, when it was established by the Upper Canada Executive Council. It was officially commissioned by Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
Sir Peregrine Maitland
Peregrine Maitland
Sir Peregrine Maitland, KCB, GCB was a British soldier and colonial administrator who played first-class cricket from 1798 to 1808....
in 1819. Its origin stemmed from a strict interpretation of the Constitutional Act of 1791
Constitutional Act of 1791
The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
by the Family Compact
Family Compact
Fully developed after the War of 1812, the Compact lasted until Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841. In Lower Canada, its equivalent was the Château Clique. The influence of the Family Compact on the government administration at different levels lasted to the 1880s...
, led by John Strachan
John Strachan
John Strachan was an influential figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto.-Early life:Strachan was the youngest of six children born to a quarry worker in Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from King's College, Aberdeen in 1797...
, to keep the clergy reserves for the Church of England.
The new Corporation had twelve members: the Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, who acted as chair, both the Inspector and Surveyors General, the Rectors of York
York, Ontario
York is a dissolved municipality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located northwest of Old Toronto, southwest of North York and east of Etobicoke, where it is bounded by the Humber River. Formerly a separate city, it was one of six municipalities that amalgamated in 1998 to form...
, Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Niagara
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
, Grimsby
Grimsby, Ontario
Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is a part of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The majority of residents reside in the area bounded by Lake Ontario and the Niagara escarpment...
, Cornwall
Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
, Ancaster
Ancaster, Ontario
Ancaster is a picturesque and historic community located on the Niagara escarpment, within the greater area of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This former town was founded officially in 1793 and was one of the oldest European communities established in present day Ontario along with Windsor...
, Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Newcastle
Newcastle, Ontario
Newcastle is a community in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The Town of Newcastle was also the original name of what is now Clarington....
, and two other members of the Anglican clergy. The Corporation directed the local sheriffs to collect the various rents.
The first meeting of the Corporation was held at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
on 25 March 1820. Stephen Heward, who was Auditor General
Auditor General
- Auditor General of National Audit Offices :*Auditor General of the Australian National Audit Office*Auditor General of Canada*Auditor General of China*Auditor General of Pakistan*Auditor General for Scotland*Auditor-General...
of Land Patents, was appointed Secretary Receiver of the Corporation. Five years later the Executive Council ordered that the Corporation should cease making any new leases of the reserves, as it had been thought that the land would be sold to the Canada Company
Canada Company
The Canada Company was a large private chartered British land development company, incorporated by an act of British parliament on July 27, 1825, to aid the colonization of Upper Canada. Canada Company assisted emigrants by providing good ships, low fares, implements and tools,and inexpensive land....
. This option was championed by Egerton Ryerson
Egerton Ryerson
Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was a Methodist minister, educator, politician, and public education advocate in early Ontario, Canada...
, who was upset at the state of the reserves and wanted them to be available to the Methodists. In August 1828 Heward, the Secretary Receiver, died and was succeeded by George Herchmer Markland
George Herchmer Markland
George Herchmer Markland was a political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Kingston around 1790 and was educated at Cornwall by John Strachan. During the War of 1812, he served with the Frontenac militia. In 1820, he was appointed to the Legislative Council for the province...
.
The issuance of new leases resumed in April 1829. However this only continued until 1832, when the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
advised the Corporation to discontinue the issuance of leases after a bill was passed to combine the clergy reserves with Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
. At this point, Markland was appointed Inspector General and a new Secretary Receiver, Thomas Baines, was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
in 1833. With no new leases being issued, the actions of the Corporation were confined to overseeing former leases, which had not yet become very lucrative. Baines undertook a plan to change this and appointed Clerks of the Peace as District Commissioners to undertake a survey of each individual lot in Upper Canada.
The result of this was a huge increase in lease revenues, but the full amount of rent was still unattained. In view of this and increased pressure against the idea of Anglican clergy lands held by the Family Compact
Family Compact
Fully developed after the War of 1812, the Compact lasted until Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841. In Lower Canada, its equivalent was the Château Clique. The influence of the Family Compact on the government administration at different levels lasted to the 1880s...
, the Executive Council
Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)
An Executive Council in Commonwealth constitutional practice based on the Westminster system is a constitutional organ which exercises executive power and advises the governor or governor-general. Executive Councils often make decisions via Orders in Council.Executive Councillors are informally...
decided in 1838 to dissolve the Corporation and to transfer Baines into the Crown Lands Department, where he would continue to oversee the collection of payments in arrears on clergy reserve leases and oversee the sale of Crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
in Upper Canada. At this point both the Clergy Corporation and the Clergy Reserves were largely dissolved; the lands were officially secularized in 1854.