Upper Canada Guardian
Volume 1 of the Upper Canada Guardian - November 5, 1807
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| Publisher | Joseph Willcocks |
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| Founded | 24 July 1807 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 9 June 1812 |
| Headquarters | Newark, Upper Canada (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario) |
The Upper Canada Guardian; or Freeman’s Journal was one of the first opposition papers in 19th century Upper Canada. Its publisher and editor Joseph Willcocks established it after moving to Niagara in 1807 to combat arbitrary power, oppressive land laws, and ultimately create liberty in the province. Willcocks claimed that the Guardian was meant: “to disseminate the principles of political truth, check the progress of inordinate power, and keep alive the sacred flame of a just and rational liberty.” In 1809, Judge William Dummer Powell complained of its widespread popularity and the fact that it was in nearly every household. It was a four-page paper (11 by 17 and a half inches) published between July 24, 1807 and June 9, 1812 and printed in with the roman cursive “f” representing the English long "s". The Upper Canada Guardian came to an end when Willcocks sold its printing press to Richard Hatt in June 1812 for $1,600.
The first newspaper published in Upper Canada was the Upper Canada Gazette in April 1793 in Niagara which recognized that a community benefits from political press and aimed to publish accounts of government events. The Tiffany brothers (Gideon and Silvester) created the first independent newspaper in Niagara July 1799, known as the Canada Constellation. However, the paper lasted only until 1800 due to its pro-American sympathies and a lack of government aid and subscriptions.
William Weekes' attacks of the government in 1806 over "financial mismanagement" led him to meet Robert Thorpe, a newly immigrated judge who did not fear supporting Weekes and his beliefs. In fact, Thorpe went behind the back of British officials and helped the assembly to oppose the government. After Weekes' address to Sir Francis Gore in 1806 over his disappointment "of the neglect of public interest and arbitrary nature of government" and his later death, Thorpe took over his position. He came to Niagara and formed a partnership with Willcocks, and together they followed in Weekes' footsteps. They did not concern themselves with petitioning the British government as Weekes did, but rather were the first to oppose the Upper Canadian government on a "systematic basis."
Prior to Weekes' death in 1806, Thorpe and Willcocks had already begun to resist authoritarian rule in 1805. Thorpe argued that: “the colony of Upper Canada was subject...to the control of Parliament though (like Ireland, Man, and the rest) not bound by any acts of Parliament, unless particularly named.” Willcocks began to question his bond to the acts of Parliament using Thorpe as inspiration. Together, their political and public discourse eventually fully adopted the 18th century Whig tradition by being “opposed to arbitrary and distant power, valu[ing] loyalty to [the] country rather than to [the] rulers and believed in independence of colonial legislatures.” The basis of the Whig mentality is acknowledging the errors of the past for the sake of the present, and through emphasizing liberty and innovation, one can become successful in this opposition. This eventually led to their formation of an opposition group from 1806 to 1808. Willcocks and Thorpe each held public meetings; where Willcocks was concerned about asking the attendees advice on issues. According to historian Bruce Wilson, this proved to be beneficial to Willcocks as it aided him in "[forging] an effective local position to the mercantile-official elite of the Niagara district." In 1811, the Thorpe-Willcocks assembly group, including Charles Burton Wyatt and John Mills Jackson used their connection to Britain to continue their opposition against Governor Gore, and created a petition over the "partiality and corruption" of the provincial administration.
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