Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (December 19, 1851 – June 17, 1942) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer and politician, who served as the fifth

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...

. He was born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new c ...

, to John Fitzpatrick and Mary Connolly. He studied at

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Lux ...

, earning his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

degree (1873) and LL.B degree (1876), earning the Dufferin Silver Medal.
History of the Administration of the Earl of Dufferin in Canada
'' by William Leggo, Toronto: Lovell Printing and Publishing Company (1878), pg. 877 Called to the

bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec (french: Barreau du Québec) is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower C ...

in 1876, he established his practice in Quebec City and later founded the law firm of Fitzpatrick & Taschereau. In 1885, he acted as chief counsel to

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

who was on trial for leading the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of ...

. Riel was found guilty and sentenced to death. Fitzpatrick entered politics in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship '' ...

, winning election to the Quebec Legislative Assembly in Québec-Comté electoral district. He was re-elected in 1892, but resigned in June 1896 to enter federal politics. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in Quebec County electoral district in the 1896 federal election as a Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP). He served as

Solicitor General of Canada The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice. It was ...

from 1896 to 1902, and as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

from 1902 until 1906. He was appointed to the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to ...

as Chief Justice. He served in that position until 1918 when he was appointed the 12th

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec The lieutenant governor of Quebec (; French (masculine): ''Lieutenant-gouverneur du Québec'', or (feminine): ''Lieutenante-gouverneure du Québec'') is the viceregal representative in Quebec of the , who operates distinctly within the province ...

. During his period as Lieutenant Governor, his nephew acted as Premier of Quebec, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau. He is the only Chief Justice other than Sir William Buell Richards to have served in that position without having first been a

Puisne Justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

on the court (Richards was Chief Justice at the court's creation in 1875), and the only Chief Justice to have been appointed without any prior judicial experience. In 1905, he took part, as the federal government representative, in the negotiations that led to the creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. He was knighted in 1907. May 20, 1879, Fitzpatrick married Marie-Elmire-Corinne Caron, daughter of

René-Édouard Caron René-Édouard Caron (21 October 1800 – 13 December 1876) was a Canadian politician, judge, and the second Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. He was born in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Lower Canada, the son of Augustin Caron, a well-to-do f ...

, 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, and his wife Marie-Joséphine De Blois.Chief Justice Fitzpatrick died on June 17, 1942, aged 90 years and 6 months; he is interred in Sillery, at Saint-Michel Cemetery ( cimetière Saint-Michel de Sillery).

Electoral record

By-election: On Mr. Fitzpatrick being appointed Solicitor General, 11 July 1896

References

External links

*
Supreme Court of Canada Biography
* * *
Fitzpatrick, Sir Charles National Historic Person
—

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government, agency of the Government of Canada whic ...

Hon. Charles Fitzpatrick, B.A.,
— ''The Newspaper Reference Book of Canada: Embracing Facts and Data Regarding Canada and Biographical Sketches of Representative Canadian Men''. Toronto: The Press Publishing Company, Limited (1903), p. 201

''Canadian Confederation ''—

(2005)
Sir Charles Fitzpatrick
— ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

'' (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Charles 1851 births 1942 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Canadian Roman Catholics Chief justices of Canada Lawyers in Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Lieutenant Governors of Quebec Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Politicians from Quebec City Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Quebec people of Irish descent Solicitors General of Canada Université Laval alumni Université Laval Faculté de droit alumni Canadian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Université Laval faculty

Archives

Electoral record

References

External links