Falconbridge, Sir William Glenholme

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Jamie Benidickson, “FALCONBRIDGE, Sir WILLIAM GLENHOLME,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. See full biography at: https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/falconbridge_william_glenholme_14E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Teacher, lawyer, judge, commissioner, and scholar; b. 12 May 1846 in Drummondville (Niagara Falls), Upper Canada, son of John Kennedy Falconbridge and Sarah Fralick; m. 15 April 1873, in Toronto, Mary Phoebe Sullivan (d. 1929), daughter of Robert Baldwin Sullivan, and they had seven daughters and two sons (two of the girls and a son died in infancy); d. there 8 Feb. 1920.
    • Glenholme Falconbridge’s father had immigrated from County Antrim (Northern Ireland) in 1837 and settled in Drummondville with an uncle, who was the local postmaster and a merchant. In 1845 he married Sarah Fralick, of loyalist descent.
    • In the belief that residence by the sea would further his recovery from an accident suffered before his graduation, Falconbridge accepted the chair of modern languages at Yarmouth Seminary in Nova Scotia. After one year he returned to University College as a lecturer in Spanish and Italian, a position he held for a year while he read law as an articled student. He continued his studies at Patton, Osler, and Moss, and, after being called to the bar on 17 May 1871, he joined Harrison, Osler, and Moss, where he was given charge of “litigation on the common law side” and was guided through criminal matters and trial procedures by Robert Alexander Harrison. His mentor’s departure for the bench in 1875 led to a further reorganization of the firm and a broadening of Falconbridge’s work to include other areas of law.
    • Although his judicial reputation had grown slowly, Falconbridge made an impact in 1889 by drawing attention to unacceptable delays in jury and non-jury trials in the Toronto assize court. According to one biographer, “He always preferred trial work and going on circuit to appellate work.” He travelled throughout Ontario to hear cases and enjoyed the company of the bar outside Toronto. A long-time legal friend, Walter Stevens Herrington of Napanee, credited him with “presiding at the first Assize Court ever held in one of the outlying districts” of northern Ontario. The naming of a township near Sudbury in his honour in 1892 may reflect his commitment to the administration of justice outside the provincial metropolis.
    • When he had become chief justice in 1900, the Canadian Law Times, noting his demonstrated administrative ability, pronounced Falconbridge to be “a safe and a sound Judge” who possessed “sanctified common sense” and maintained a dignified and courteous manner. 
    • Despite his classical erudition, professional stature, and stern appearance, Falconbridge was considered in a eulogy by W. S. Herrington to be “a most companionable man and never happier than when surrounded by a group of friends.” He no doubt relished an audience, but in avoiding all pretentiousness, he ensured that the audience enjoyed and respected him. In a testimonial, the County of Hastings Law Association remarked upon “delightful memories of his charming and cultured personality and intercourse so genially and generously shared.” At a time when justices were finding it increasingly difficult to be active in as many areas as Falconbridge, he represented “all the old traditions, literary, scholastic, social, professional and judicial, which have lent honour and dignity to the British Bench and Bar.”
  • Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2927
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95889963/william-glenholme-falconbridge