William Renwick Riddell was a Canadian lawyer, judge, and historian. Riddell was born in Hamilton Township, Ontario and attended Cobourg

Cobourg, Ontario

Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...

 Grammar School and Victoria College

Victoria College

Victoria College is or was the name of several institutions of secondary or higher education, including:* [Victoria College, Chulipuram], Sri Lanka* Victoria College, Alexandria, Egypt* Victoria College in Victoria, Texas...

. He was called to the bar in 1883, and conducted a law practice in Cobourg until he moved to Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 in 1893. Riddell was appointed as judge to the Supreme Court of Ontario

Supreme Court of Ontario

The Supreme Court of Ontario was a superior court of the Canadian province of Ontario. Now defunct, in 1989 the Courts of Justice Amendment Act, 1989 was enacted by the Government to create one large superior trial court for Ontario...

 in 1906.

As a historian, he published numerous works of legal, medical and social history, including biographies of William Kirby

William Kirby

Image sourcesPortraits of the Honorary Members of the Ipswich Museum ....

 and John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe

John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...

.