The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[2] The Bellechasse electoral district of Lower Canada was not altered by the Act, and therefore continued with the same boundaries which had been set by a statute of Lower Canada in 1829:
The County of Bellechasse shall be bounded on the north east by the said County of L'Islet, on the south-west by the north-east boundary-lines of the Seigniories of Lauzon and Jolliet, and of the Townships of Frampton, Cranbourne and Watford, and thence by a line prolonged south east to the southern boundary of the Province, on the north west by the River Saint Lawrence, and include all the islands in the said River, nearest to the said County, and in the whole or part fronting the same, and in the south east by the southern boundary of the Province; which county so bounded comprises the Seigniories of Berthier, Saint Vallier, Saint Michel, Beaumont, and its augmentation, La Durantaye and its augmentation La Martiniere, Montapeine, Vincennes, Saint Gervais and Livandiere, and the Townships of Buckland and Standon.[3]
The electoral district of Bellechasse thus included the County of Bellechasse (now part of the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality), and some adjacent areas. The elections were held at Saint Vallier and Saint Gervais.[4]
The following were the members of the Legislative Assembly for Bellechasse. The party affiliations are based on the biographies of individual members given by the National Assembly of Quebec, as well as votes in the Legislative Assembly. "Party" was a fluid concept, especially during the early years of the Province of Canada.[6][7][8]
^Jean Chabot was elected in the general election, but chose not to sit in Bellechasse; Fortier elected in by-election on October 17, 1854: Côté, Appointments and Elections, p. 62, note (160).
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Statutes of Lower Canada, 13th Provincial Parliament, 2nd Session (1829), c. 74