Challener, Frederick Sproston (1955) - The First Legislature of Upper Canada [Oil on canvas] ©Government of Ontario Art Collection, Archives of Ontario
Upper Canada first became a political entity by the Constitutional Act of 1791 which provided for a representative-style government consisting of a Lieutenant Governor and his appointed Executive Council, along with an appointed Legislative Council and an elected Legislative Assembly. On September 17, 1792, the nine members of the Legislative Council and the sixteen-member Assembly met for the first time in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), Upper Canada. The exact site of this first meeting is not exactly known, although speculation has focused on a group of log buildings called Navy Hall located near the riverbank below Fort George (and destroyed in 1813 during the War of 1812).
In 1955, Premier Leslie Frost commissioned artist Frederick Challener to create a large painting to commemorate the event of the first meeting of the Legislature - the forerunner to the province's current Legislative Assembly - for the Executive Council Chamber in the Legislative Building. Challener's painting was based on a watercolour by C.W. Jefferys. Colonel John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (wearing the plumed hat and military uniform) can be seen addressing the meeting.