Richards, Sir William Buell

DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Ian MacPherson, “RICHARDS, Sir WILLIAM BUELL,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 11, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/richards_william_buell_11E.html
DCB profile notes:
- Lawyer, politician, and judge; b. 2 May 1815 in Brockville, Upper Canada, the eldest son of Stephen Richards and Phoebe Buell, and brother of Stephen and Albert Norton; m. 19 Oct. 1846 Deborah Catherine Muirhead (d. 1869), and they had three sons and two daughters; d. 26 Jan. 1889 in Ottawa, Ont.
- William Buell Richards was educated at the Johnstown District Grammar School in Brockville and the St Lawrence Academy in Potsdam, N.Y. After serving in the Brockville law offices of both his uncle, Andrew Norton Buell, and George Malloch, he was called to the bar in 1837.
- In 1844 he was nominated to contest the constituency of Leeds in the general election, but he retired in favour of William Buell, his uncle. Nominated again for the election of 1848, he defeated the arch-villain of Reformers in Leeds, Ogle Robert Gowan*; this victory was particularly satisfying because during the election campaign Gowan had questioned Richards’ loyalty in the 1837–38 rebellion. Once elected, Richards became involved in the distribution of patronage to the long-ostracized Reformers of eastern Upper Canada, an activity he believed fully justifiable, even necessary.
- A close friend of Robert Baldwin, who was godfather to one of his children, Richards rose rapidly in the Reform administration. In 1851, after he again defeated Gowan, he was appointed attorney general in the administration of Francis Hincks and Augustin-Norbert Morin. In office, Richards displayed an interest in legal reform by promoting the reorganization of statute law and by helping to raise the requirements for admission to the bar. On 22 June 1853, amid considerable controversy because of what some claimed to have been a brief and undistinguished legal career, he was appointed a puisne judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Yet although political influence had helped Richards obtain the judgeship, he was, despite the protests, well qualified for the post. He became chief justice of that court on 22 July 1863.
- Richards’ tenure as chief justice from 8 Oct. 1875 to 9 Jan. 1879 was characterized by controversy in parliament and in the press largely because of the contention surrounding the establishment of the court itself. Many Conservatives and a few Liberals who were strongly opposed to the Supreme Court objected to the high cost of the court and its isolation in Ottawa, as well as to its slowness in coming to decisions and to the poor reports that were made of the initial cases.
Grandson of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=992
Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116956481/william_buell-richards