Lyman Poore Duff

Lyman Poore Duff

Sir Lyman Poore Duff , PC , GCMG , QC (born January 7, 1865 in Meaford , Ontario , † April 26, 1955 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian judge . He was a member of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1906 to 1944 and was its Chairman ( Chief Justice ) from 1933 .

biography

The son of a priest of the Congregationalists first studied mathematics and metaphysics at the University of Toronto , then also law. He also worked as a math teacher in Barrie to finance his studies. In 1893 he was admitted as a lawyer, two years later he moved to Victoria in the province of British Columbia and was there for the firm Bodwell & Irving operates. In 1903 he was sent to London as a consultant to negotiate the definitive demarcation of the border between Alaska and Canada.

From 1904 Duff was a member of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, on September 27, 1906 Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier appointed him judge at the Supreme Court of Canada . On March 17, 1933, he became Chief Justice on the recommendation of Richard Bedford Bennett . Since after the death of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir in February 1940 more than four months passed until the appointment of a successor, Duff also took over the office of Acting Governor General and thus represented the head of state.

After more than 37 years as chief judge (including almost eleven as chairman), Duff resigned on January 7, 1944.

See also

• List of justices at the Supreme Court of Canada

literature

• David Ricardo Williams: Duff: A Life In The Law . University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1984, ISBN 0-7748-0203-0 .

Web links

• Supreme Court of Canada - Portrait (English)