Rupert Mearse Wells was speaker of the Legislature of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 in 1874 to 1879 and served as Liberal

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

 MLA for Bruce South from 1872 to 1882. He represented Bruce East

Bruce East

Bruce East was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1904. This riding was created in 1882 from parts of Bruce North and Bruce South ridings....

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1883 to 1887 as a Liberal.

He was born in Prescott County

Prescott County, Ontario

Prescott County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario.It was created in 1800 from a portion of Glengarry County. It was named in honor of Major General Robert Prescott, Governor of Canada at that time. First settlers were Americans, but not all were Loyalists...

 in 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...

 in 1835 and attended the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. He studied law, was called to the bar in 1857 and entered the practice of law in L'Original. He joined the law practice of Edward Blake

Edward Blake

Dominick Edward Blake, PC, QC , known as Edward Blake, was the second Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1871 to 1872 and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1880 to 1887...

 in 1860 and left that firm to partner with Angus Morrison

Angus Morrison

Angus Morrison, QC was an Ontario lawyer and political figure. He represented Niagara in the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative member from 1867 to 1874...

 in 1870. He served as attorney for York County

York County, Ontario

York County is a historic county in Upper Canada, Canada West, and the Canadian province of Ontario.York County was created in 1792 and was part of the jurisdiction of Home District of Upper Canada...

 and the city of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 in 1872. He was elected to the provincial legislature in an 1872 by-election after Edward Blake resigned to retain his seat in the federal parliament. In 1876, he was named Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

.