Robert Alfred Ernest Greenshields (February 2, 1861 – September 28, 1942) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec;

Dean of the Faculty Dean is a title employed in academic administrations such as colleges or universities for a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, over a specific area of concern, or both. In the United States and Canada, deans are usua ...

of Law at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and 9th

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

. Greenshields was born at Danville,

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 ...

, the youngest son of Scottish-born parents John Greenshields (1823–1901), farmer and mill owner of Danville, and Margaret Naismith. Educated at Danville Academy, he graduated from in Arts from

, 1883, and in civil law in 1885. Greenshields established a legal practice in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

with his elder brother,

James Naismith Greenshields James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

(1853–1937) who had served as a member of the legal defence team in the

trial of Louis Riel The trial of Louis Riel took place in Regina, Canada in 1885. Louis Riel had been a leader of a resistance movement by the Métis and First Nations people of western Canada against the Government of Canada in what is now the province of Saskatc ...

. He was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1899. In 1910, he was appointed Judge of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, becoming Chief Justice in 1929. At McGill, Greenshields became Associate Professor of

Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

in 1915, and full Professor in 1920. From 1923 until 1927 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, and retired in 1929 as

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. In 1932, he succeeded

Frederick Edmund Meredith Frederick Edmund Meredith (January 16, 1862 – September 23, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and businessman. He was the 8th Chancellor of Bishop's University; President of the Mount Royal Club; Bâtonnier of the Bar of Montreal; President of the Mo ...

as Chancellor of

, a position he held until his death in 1942. In 1890, he married Maude Adelaide Gooderham (1868–1952), daughter of Robert Turner Gooderham (1841–1913), of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. They lived in Montreal's

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = ''Rave ...

at 3465 Simpson Street and kept a summer property at

St. Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. They were the parents of one daughter. After Greenshields' death, his wife endowed the ''Chief Justice R.A.E. Greenshields Memorial Scholarship'' for law students at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenshields, Robert 1861 births 1942 deaths Canadian university and college chancellors Canadian university and college faculty deans Judges in Quebec McGill University alumni Academic staff of McGill University People from Estrie Canadian King's Counsel McGill University Faculty of Law alumni