William Buell Richards
Encyclopedia
Sir William Buell Richards, PC
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

, Kt
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 (May 2, 1815 – January 26, 1889) was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Richards was born in Brockville, Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 to Stephen Richards and Phoebe Buell. He earned law degree at the St. Lawrence Academy
State University of New York at Potsdam
The State University of New York at Potsdam, also known as SUNY Potsdam, or, colloquially, Potsdam, is a public university located in the Village of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York. Founded in 1816, it is among the 50 oldest colleges in the United States...

 in Potsdam, New York
Potsdam (village), New York
Potsdam is a village located in the Town of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York, USA. The population was 9,425 at the 2000 census.The Village of Potsdam is in the eastern part of the town and is northeast of Canton, the county seat....

 and then articled with his uncle Andrew Norton Buell in Brockville. He was called to the bar in 1837 and continued to practice in Brockwille with George Malloch until 1853 and then with his uncle again.

In 1848 Richards was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...

 and by 1848 he became the Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 for the province. Leaving politics in June 1853, he was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...

 of Canada West and by 1863 he became Chief Justice.

In November 1868 Richards was appointed to Chief Justice of the province which was the highest court in Canada at the time. It was during this time that he heard the appeal of Patrick James Whelan for the murder of Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

With the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 in 1875 Richards was appointed directly to the position of Chief Justice which he stayed at until his retirement on January 10, 1879.

His brother Albert Norton Richards
Albert Norton Richards
Albert Norton Richards, QC was a Canadian lawyer and political figure. He represented Leeds South in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1872 to 1874...

 served in the Canadian House of Commons and was Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.

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