Richards, Sir William Buell National Historic Person
Brockville, Ontario
HSMBC plaque
© Parks Canada
Address :
Court House Square, Brockville, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1938-05-19
Life Date:
1815 to 1889
Other Name(s):
-
Richards, Sir William Buell
(Designation Name)
Importance:
First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1875-79)
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: on outside wall of Leeds and Grenville County Court House NHSC Court House Square, Brockville, Ontario
Born at Brickville and called to the bar of Upper Canada in 1837, richards represented Leeds in the Legislative Assembly (1848-53) and served as Attorney General for Canada West in the Hincks-Morin administration (1851-3). Appointed puisne judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1853, he became Chief Justice of that Court in 1863 and Chief Justice of the Ontario Queen's Bench in 1868. When the Supreme Court of Canada was formed in 1875, Richards became its first Chief Justice and continued in that position until his retirement in 1879. He died in Ottawa.