William Buell Richards

Sir William Buell Richards, PC, QC ( born 2 May 1815 in Brockville, Upper Canada, † January 26, 1889 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian judge and politician. He was a member from 1875 to 1879 the Supreme Court of Canada, and during this time was also the Chairman ( Chief Justice ).

Biography

Richards studied law at St. Lawrence Academy (now the State University of New York) in Potsdam (New York) and worked in Brockville as an intern in the office of his uncle Andrew Norton Buell. In 1837 he was admitted as an attorney and six years later his uncle's partner. He belonged to numerous local associations and thus became a prominent representative of the Liberals. In 1848 he was elected to the Parliament of the Province of Canada.

In the cabinet of the co- leaders Francis Hincks and Augustin- Norbert Morin Richards was from 1851 to 1853 Attorney General. Thereafter, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada and Province rose ten years later on as its Chairman. As of November 1868, he was Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Province of Ontario. He led a number of sensational court cases, including the appointment of the murder of Thomas D' Arcy McGee.

Richards was involved in the legislative process for the creation of a Supreme Court of Canada's new state and visited several judges of the U.S. role model to gain insights into the effectiveness of such a court. Finally him Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie appointed on September 30, 1875 as the first Chairman of the Supreme Court of Canada. In the first years of the new court was politically highly controversial, as it had to first establish and the procedures were not yet established. Richards often was abroad, to learn about the processes of similar dishes, which he then adapting the Canadian events. On 10 January 1879 he resigned for health reasons.

His younger brother Albert Norton Richards was the House of Commons Member of Parliament and Vice- Governor of British Columbia.