Britton Bath Osler, KC (19 June 1839 – 5 February 1901) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

lawyer and

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

. The eldest of three prominent brothers (the other two being Sir Edmund Osler and Sir William Osler), he was born in Bond Head,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

Background

His father, the

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Featherstone Lake Osler (1805–1895), the son of a shipowner at

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Falmouth was founded in 1613 by the Killigrew family on a site near the existing Pendennis Castle. It developed as a po ...

, was a former lieutenant in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and served on H.M.S. Victory. In 1831, he was invited to serve on H.M.S. Beagle as the science officer on

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's historic voyage to the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

, but he turned it down as his father was dying. As a teenager, Featherstone Osler was aboard H.M.S. Sappho when it was nearly destroyed by Atlantic storms and left adrift for weeks. Serving in the Navy, he was shipwrecked off

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. In 1837, he retired from the Navy and immigrated to Canada, becoming a 'saddle-bag minister' in rural

. On arriving in Canada, he and his bride (Ellen Free Pickton) were nearly ship-wrecked again on Egg Island in the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...

. Britton's great-grandfather, Edward Osler, was variously described as either a merchant seaman or a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, and one of Britton's uncles, a medical officer in the Navy, wrote the ''Life of Lord Exmouth'' and the poem ''The Voyage''.

Career

Osler first rose to national prominence by helping to secure the conviction of

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 in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

on charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

following the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

of 1885. He subsequently represented the

government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

in arbitrations with the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

arising from construction contracts carried out by contractor Andrew Onderdonk. He is also noted for his role as a prosecutor in numerous lurid

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

trials, including that of

Reginald Birchall John Reginald Birchall (''aka Lord Frederick A. Somerset'') (25 May 1866 – 14 November 1890) was a British conman who was convicted of killing one of his victims in Canada. He was hanged at Woodstock, Ontario. Crime Born into a wealthy famil ...

. Osler is known for founding the law firm of McCarthy, Osler, Hoskin & Creelman (later known as McCarthy, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt) with D'Alton McCarthy, the predecessor to today's firm

Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is a Canadian-based law firm founded in 1862. Osler is considered one of the Seven Sisters (law firms), a historical collection of seven law firms with offices in Toronto, Ontario. History The firm was founded in ...

. Approximately 15 years after D'Alton McCarthy's death, his son and two nephews split from McCarthy, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt to begin their own firm, the predecessor to the firm known today as

McCarthy Tétrault McCarthy Tétrault LLP is a Canadian law firm specializing in business law, litigation services, tax law, real property law, labour and employment law, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, London (UK), as well ...

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Lawyers in Ontario 1839 births 1901 deaths Law firm founders Canadian King's Counsel Osler family People from Bradford West Gwillimbury {{Canada-law-bio-stub