Upper Canada

Upper Canada was a province of the United Kingdom, and part of British North America.

Great Britain captured Quebec City, and with it, New France, in 1760. From 1760 to 1783 the sparsely settled territory that would become Upper Canada was part of the province of Quebec, administered by a Governor-General, in Quebec.

In 1793 it was decided to split Quebec, with the francophone rump of Quebec, centred around the St Lawrence River, still administered by a Governor-General, in Quebec. This new province was called Lower Canada.

The lands draining into the North American Great Lakes, north of the United States border, and down the St Lawrence as far as the Ottawa River, became Upper Canada. It was administered by a Lieutenant governor, subordinate to the Governor-General of Lower Canada.

John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor, had served as a Colonel in the British Army, during the American Revolution. And he had a unit of soldiers under his command, who were to build some of the first highways in the Province.