Editing Family Compact (section)

===Constitutional context===
Upper Canada did not have a hereditary nobility. In its place, senior members of Upper Canada bureaucracy, the [[Executive Council of Upper Canada]] and [[Legislative Council of Upper Canada]], made up the elite of the compact.<ref name="Wallace">[https://archive.org/details/familycompactchr24walluoft <!-- quote=The family compact a chronicle of the rebellion in Upper Canada by W. Stewart Wallace. --> W.S. Wallace, ''The Family Compact''], Toronto 1915.</ref> These men sought to solidify their personal positions into family dynasties and acquire all the marks of gentility. They used their government positions to extend their business and speculative interests.

The origins of the Family Compact lay in overlapping appointments made to the Executive and Legislative councils of Upper Canada. The councils were intended to operate independently. Section 38 of the [[Constitutional Act of 1791]] referred to the independence of the offices indirectly. While [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Sir Guy Carleton]], Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada, pointed out that the offices were intended to be separate, Lord Grenville set the wheels in motion with [[John Graves Simcoe]], Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, by pointing out that there was no legal impediment to prevent cross-appointments. Simcoe used the vague statement in Section 38 to make the following appointments<ref name="Narratives">{{cite web |url=http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/pp/pp4.html |title=Historical Narratives of Early Canada |author=W.R. Wilson |access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2 | Family Compact political appointments circa 1794
|- style="font-size:88%"
! scope=row | Executive Council of Upper Canada
| {{flatlist}}
* [[William Osgoode]]
* [[William Robertson (Western Quebec and Upper Canada)|William Robertson]]
* [[Alexander Grant (Upper Canada politician)|Alexander Grant]]
* [[Peter Russell (politician)|Peter Russell]]
* [[James Baby]]
{{endflatlist}}
|- style="font-size:88%"
! scope=row | Legislative Council of Upper Canada
| {{flatlist}}
* [[William Osgoode]]
* [[William Robertson (Western Quebec and Upper Canada)|William Robertson]]
* [[Alexander Grant (Upper Canada politician)|Alexander Grant]]
* [[Peter Russell (politician)|Peter Russell]]
* [[Richard Duncan (Upper Canada politician)|Richard Duncan]]
* [[Robert Hamilton (judge)|Robert Hamilton]]
* [[Richard Cartwright (born 1759)|Richard Cartwright]]
* [[John Munro (loyalist)|John Munro]]
{{endflatlist}}
|}
The Family Compact exerted influence over the government through the Executive Council and Legislative Council, the advisers to the [[Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada|lieutenant governor]], leaving the popularly elected [[Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada|Legislative Assembly]] with little real power. As became clear with Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Bond Head, the influence of the Family Compact could be quite limited as well. Members ensured their conservative friends held the important administrative and judicial positions in the colony through political patronage.