Ritchie, William Bruce Almon

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Philip Girard, “RITCHIE, WILLIAM BRUCE ALMON,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/ritchie_william_bruce_almon_14E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Lawyer and military officer; b. 27 June 1860 in Annapolis Royal, N.S., son of the Reverend James Johnston Ritchie and Eliza Almon; m. 14 June 1905 Lilian Constance Harriette Stewart, sister of Charles James Townshend Stewart, in Halifax, and they had two sons; d. 25 Dec. 1917 in Vancouver.
    • A member of the third generation of Nova Scotia’s best-known legal dynasty, W. B. A. Ritchie is significant for two main reasons. He represents a new form of legal professionalism, based on administrative forms of state service, involvement with business corporations, and legal education on the Harvard University model, which in the 1870s began to replace the old-style professionalism of the pre-responsible government era, centred on political office and English-style legal education. Two of Ritchie’s uncles, John William Ritchie and Sir William Johnston Ritchie, both judges, had held high political office, but not one of the 11 Ritchie lawyers of the subject’s generation did so. W. B. A. Ritchie is also an exemplar of the Maritime lawyers who in the 1890–1920 period migrated to the western provinces, where they soon rose to positions of power and influence.
    • It was virtually inevitable that W. B. A. Ritchie would follow the law. His own father had been a barrister in Annapolis before taking holy orders. His only brother, James Johnston Jr, became a lawyer (he would be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1912), and both his sisters married Annapolis lawyers. William began his articles in 1877 under local lawyer J. M. Owen and in 1880 assigned his final year to his brother, now practising in Halifax. He then spent 1881–82 at Harvard law school before being called to the bar on 5 June 1882. His brother had received a Harvard llb in 1877 and four Ritchie cousins had also studied there.
    • The three decades before World War I were boom years for lawyers in Halifax. A select group, including Borden, were active corporate investors and promoters as well as advisers, but Ritchie seems to have taken little part in the business side of corporate affairs. He and Borden were two of the most sought-after counsel in Nova Scotia appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada in the years 1890–1905, and Ritchie occasionally argued before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
    • In 1911 Ritchie took his family to Vancouver, where he joined the prominent firm of Bowser, Reid, and Wallbridge. Family tradition has it that money was a major factor in the move. The explosive growth of the British Columbia bar from 235 in 1905 to 488 in 1913 suggests that opportunities abounded. An extensive network of Maritime lawyers existed to assist Ritchie.
    • His young sons eventually rose to prominence in their chosen fields. Charles Stewart Almon was encouraged by Borden to enter the diplomatic service and has also achieved renown as a diarist. Roland Almon read law at the University of Oxford, practised in Halifax, and served on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1959 to 1984.
  • Great Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7013
  • Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35333234/william-bruce_almon-ritchie