Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe had left the province in July, choosing Peter Russell to act as administrator in his absence.

Before he left Simcoe had ordered that the provincial capital be moved from Niagara to York (Toronto), and Russell was busy organising the unwelcome upheaval.

In July, 1797, Parliament was held at York, but a compromise had been met with a bill passed to permit the courts to remain at Niagara-on-the-Lake for a further two years.

Concerning land grants and tariffs with Lower Canada, Elmsley was greatly influenced by his friend Richard Cartwright, generally supporting the Loyalist and merchant points of view.

The salary was increased from £1,000 to £1,500 a year, and he was to be called to the Executive and Legislative Councils of Lower Canada with a 'seat next in Rank to the Lieutenant Governor.'

[1] He was buried at the old English Burial Grounds or St Lawrence/Dorchester Cemetery on rue Dorchester (now Boulevard René Levesque) which closed in the mid-1800s with graves relocated to Mont Royal or lost.

[4] Elmsley's widow sold the north half of Park Lot 11 to provide land for King's College (now the University of Toronto).