Christopher Salmon Patterson (January 16, 1823 – July 24, 1893) 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 ...

Puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) 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 between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

. Born in

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, the son of John and Ann Patterson, he studied at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...

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. In 1845, he emigrated to Picton,

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(now

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

), Canada. He was called to the Canada West Bar in 1851 and moved to

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in 1856 and practised law. In 1874, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Error & Appeal. Historian Ian Bushnell notes that Patterson had a willingness to be creative in his decisions and did not always seek out precedent to support his decisions. In October 1888, Patterson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada to fill the seat of

William Alexander Henry William Alexander Henry (December 30, 1816 – May 3, 1888) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and judge. He was one of the Fathers of Confederation and one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. Early life Henry was born o ...

who died earlier in May. The decision to appoint Patterson of Ontario did not follow the tradition of regional representation which anticipated a justice from the Maritimes. Prime Minister

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

and Justice Minister

John Sparrow David Thompson Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (November 10, 1845 – December 12, 1894) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Canada from 1892 until his death in 1894. He had previously been fifth premier o ...

felt there were no suitable candidates in the Maritimes, and Patterson was chosen for his skill and ideological belief favouring the federal government over provinces in constitutional matters. He served until his death in 1893. Patterson Township, Ontario is named in his honour.

References

External links

Supreme Court of Canada Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Christopher 1823 births 1893 deaths English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution Immigrants to the Province of Canada

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Further reading

External links