A class apart? The legal profession in Upper Canada from creation to Confederation, 1791--1867

This thesis examines the role of the legal profession in Upper Canada from 1791 to 1867. In particular it focuses on whether or not the legal profession became the elite that they were set up to be. It examines the reasons behind choosing the legal profession as the elite. Between the creation of Upper Canada and Confederation there were several political and economic changes and I examine how these changes impacted the legal profession and the role that they had to play in the legal profession. I argue that while the legal profession failed to become the aristocratic elite that the early Upper Canadian leaders hoped for, it did become distinctively Upper Canadian.