A good, detailed, non-specialist history of Ontario can be had by reading three volumes of the twenty volume set The
Canadian Centenary Series published by McClelland and Stewart:
Craig, Gerald M - Upper Canada: The Formative Years 1784-1841
Careless, JMS - The Union of the Canadas 1841-1857
Morton, WL - The Critical Years 1857-1973
Two "must have" books on Ontario Genealogy are:
Merriman, Brenda Dougall - Genealogy in Ontario (3ed) - OGS (1996)
Taylor, Ryan - Books You Need to do Genealogy in Ontario - Round Tower Books (1996)
Details on the early administration of Upper Canada can be found in:
Armstrong, Frederick H - Handbook of Upper Canadian Chronology (Revised ed) - Dundurn
Press (1985)
This book lists officials (elected and appointed), describes the structure of local government, gives population
statistics, and many other things. The book covers the time from 1788 to 1841 (for provincial matters) or to 1849
(for local government).