Botsford, William

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: C. Alexander Pincombe, “BOTSFORD, WILLIAM,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 9, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/botsford_william_9E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Politician, officeholder, and judge; b. 29 April 1773 at New Haven, Conn., son of Amos Botsford and Sarah Chandler; m. in 1802 probably at Saint John, N.B., Sarah Lowell Murray, née Hazen, and they had eight sons and a daughter; d. 8 May 1864 at Westcock, Westmorland County, N.B.
    • William Botsford’s family settled in Annapolis Royal, N.S., in 1782, and then moved to Westcock near Sackville, N.B., in 1784. Educated at Yale College, he took his degree in 1792 and received an ma in 1796. Botsford studied law at Saint John, in the office of Jonathan Bliss, then attorney general and later chief justice, and was called to the bar in 1795.
    • On 12 May 1795 Botsford was made deputy clerk of the Supreme Court and deputy registrar of the Admiralty Court. In 1803 when Gabriel George Ludlow became president of the Council, Botsford succeeded him as judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, a post he held for five years.
    • In 1823 a vacancy occurred in the Supreme Court. Botsford had been recommended by Ludlow for a position in the court as early as 1807, but, to the surprise of the legal establishment, which favoured Botsford, Lieutenant Governor George Stracy Smyth nominated Edward James Jarvis. A friend of Botsford’s father, James Morse, of Cumberland County, N.S., made use of influential friends in London, including the Duke of Wellington, to prevent the approval of Jarvis’ appointment, and in April 1823 Botsford was elevated to the bench instead. That year he was also appointed an assessor in the Court of Chancery. In accordance with custom, he was made a member of the Council, a position he held until his resignation in 1834. In 1832 he became vice-president in the Court of Governor and Council, for hearing and determining causes relating to marriage and divorce.
    • Botsford’s knowledge of the law and the humanity which he displayed caused him to be held in the highest regard by all classes.
  • Son of Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=712
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8664857/william_m-botsford