Legislative Council of British Columbia

The Legislative Council of British Columbia was an advisory body created in 1867 to the governor of the "new" United Colony of British Columbia, which had been created from the merger of the old colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia (a.k.a. the Mainland Colony, or the Gold Colony). The new colony, like its predecessors, did not have a responsible government, and while its debates and resolutions carried considerable weight, executive power remained in the hands of the governor, who at the time of the council's founding was Frederick Seymour.

There were three groups of members: five senior officials of the colony, who also constituted its executive council, nine magistrates (some of whom, being popular in their districts, had been elevated to that post so as to please Whitehall's intent that there be a more democratic presence in the council), and nine elected members. The electoral members represented two seats in Victoria, one in Greater Victoria ("Victoria District"), New Westminster, Columbia River and Kootenay, Nanaimo, Yale and Lytton, Lillooet, and Cariboo.