Provincial Politics
In 1836, Sherwood was elected to the 13th Parliament of Upper Canada representing the town of Brockville. This was the last Parliament of the province of Upper Canada, which in 1841 was united with the province of Lower Canada into the new Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, enacted by the British Parliament.
In March 1841, Sherwood stood for election to the new Parliament of the Province of Canada, this time from Toronto, with the Mayor of Toronto, George Monro, as his co-candidate on a Tory ticket. Despite having the full backing of the Orange Order and the conservative establishment, they were defeated in the election by the Reform candidates, Isaac Buchanan and John Dunn. A riot ensued the next day when a victory parade by the Reformers was attacked by Orangemen carrying knives, sticks and firearms. The Orangemen were based at the Coleraine Tavern and had been brought in from Scarborough, Ontario by the tavern's owner, Samuel Sherwood, who happened to be Henry's brother. One man was killed by a shot fired from the tavern.
Charles Dickens, visiting Toronto at the time, observed:
- One man was killed on the same occasion and from the very window whence he received his death, the very flag which shielded his murderer (not only in the commission of his crime, but from its consequences), was displayed again on the occasion of the public ceremony performed by the Governor General, to which I have just adverted. Of all the colours in the rainbow, there is but one which could be so employed: I need not say that the flag was orange.
In 1843, Dunn resigned from the Legislative Assembly to protest Governor Metcalfe's refusal to consult the Executive Council on patronage appointments. In the resulting by-election, Sherwood again stood for election and was successful. He was re-elected to the second Parliament in 1844, and the third Parliament in 1848. He was not originally elected to the fourth Parliament in 1852, but was elected in 1853 in a by-election.
From May 28, 1847 to March 11, 1848, Sherwood served as Joint Premier of the Province of Canada for Canada West along with his counterpart Denis-Benjamin Papineau who represented Canada East.
Read more about this topic: Henry Sherwood
Famous quotes containing the words provincial and/or politics:
“With respect to a true culture and manhood, we are essentially provincial still, not metropolitan,—mere Jonathans. We are provincial, because we do not find at home our standards; because we do not worship truth, but the reflection of truth; because we are warped and narrowed by an exclusive devotion to trade and commerce and manufacturers and agriculture and the like, which are but means, and not the end.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The word “revolution” itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the “revolution” of a wheel which returns in the end to the same place; the “revolving door” of a politics which has “liberated” women only to use them, and only within the limits of male tolerance.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)