Jarvis, Edward James

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: J. M. Bumsted and H. T. Holman, “JARVIS, EDWARD JAMES,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/jarvis_edward_james_8E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer, notary, office holder, judge, and politician; b. 1788 in Saint John, N.B., youngest son of Munson Jarvis and Mary Arnold; m. first 29 April 1817 Anna Maria Boyd, daughter of Dr John Boyd of Saint John, and they had eight children; m. secondly 12 Dec. 1843 Elizabeth Gray, daughter of Robert Gray and Mary Burns, and they had three children; d. 9 May 1852 at Spring Park (Charlottetown), P.E.I.
    • Edward James Jarvis’s father was a leading Connecticut loyalist who removed to New Brunswick in 1783, establishing a mercantile firm in Saint John and serving as a member of the provincial assembly and as vestryman of the local Anglican church. Edward received a ba in 1809 from King’s College in Windsor, N.S., was admitted to the New Brunswick bar as an attorney at law on 12 Oct. 1811, became a notary public in Saint John on 22 Feb. 1812, and in January 1813 sailed from Saint John to continue his legal studies in London. He became a student of Joseph Chitty, and was admitted to the bar at the Inner Temple. While in London he met two other law students from his province, John Simcoe Saunders and Ward Chipman. Jarvis returned to Saint John in 1816 to resume practising law. His position within the town’s élite was further strengthened by his marriage the following year to a member of another influential Saint John family active in commercial affairs, and he soon began to receive official attention.
    • His next appointment was as chief justice of Prince Edward Island. When Jarvis was sworn into office on 30 Aug. 1828 he was the only professional jurist in Prince Edward Island. Jarvis, in contrast, put himself above politics, and he did know something about the law.
    • Jarvis had always tried to remain politically neutral. When public opposition to Lieutenant Governor reached the point where the House of Assembly in 1846 censured him by a vote of 19 to 3, Jarvis observed, “I almost stand alone in having had no personal collision with His Excellency.” On the whole, Jarvis’s relative lack of involvement in Island politics, especially in his latter years, probably worked to his advantage. Although there were those who would have preferred a Supreme Court with a higher profile, most political factions on the Island were content to allow Jarvis to continue.
  • Son of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=4197
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136196711/edward-james-jarvis