David Lynch Scott (21 August 1845 – 26 July 1924) 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 ...

militia officer,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. He served as mayor of

Orangeville, Ontario Orangeville (Canada 2021 Census population of 30,167) is a town in south-central Ontario, Canada, and the seat of Dufferin County. History The first patent of land was issued to Ezekiel Benson, a land surveyor, on August 7, 1820. That was fol ...

, mayor of

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

and

Chief Justice of Alberta The Court of Appeal of Alberta (frequently referred to as Alberta Court of Appeal or ABCA) is a Canadian appellate court that serves as the highest appellate court in the jurisdiction of Alberta, subordinate to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jur ...

Early life

He was born in

Brampton, Ontario Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, the son of John Scott and Mary Lynch. He studied law at

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart (architect), John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is n ...

, was called to the Ontario bar in 1870 and practised in Brampton and Orangeville. In 1882, he moved to

Marriage

He married Mary McVittie on November 19, 1883 in

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is par ...

Career

He enlisted as a private in the 36th (Peel) Battalion of Infantry during the Fenian invasions of 1866. By the end of his military service in 1879, he had attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. David L Scott

Scott was mayor of Orangeville from 1879–1880, and in 1884-85 served as the first Mayor of Regina. Scott first rose to prominence as a lawyer when he acted as the junior counsel for the

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

in the prosecutions 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 ...

Big Bear Big Bear, also known as (; – 17 January 1888), was a powerful and popular Cree chief who played many pivotal roles in Canadian history. He was appointed to chief of his band at the age of 40 upon the death of his father, Black Powder, u ...

Poundmaker Poundmaker ( – 4 July 1886), also known as ''pîhtokahânapiwiyin'' (), was a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker and defender of his people, the Poundmaker Cree Nation. His name denotes his special craft at leading buffalo into buf ...

and those involved in the

Frog Lake Massacre The Frog Lake Massacre was part of the Cree uprising during the North-West Rebellion in western Canada. Led by Wandering Spirit, Cree men attacked and killed nine officials, clergy and settlers in the small settlement of Frog Lake, at the ti ...

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 was named

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1885 and was the first person admitted as an advocate of the Northwest Territories. Scott became a justice of the newly formed

Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories The Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is the name of two different superior courts for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories, which have existed at different times. The first Supreme Court of the North-West Territories was cr ...

in 1894, seated in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. In 1907 he became a member of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the new

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Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, seated in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. When

Arthur Sifton Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton (October 26, 1858 – January 21, 1921) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second premier of Alberta from 1910 until 1917. He became a minister in the federal cabinet of Canada therea ...

resigned to become Premier, Scott thought he would be his replacement. However,

Horace Harvey Horace Harvey (October 1, 1863 – September 9, 1949) was a lawyer, jurist, and a Chief Justice of Alberta, Canada. Early and family life Harvey was born in Elgin County, Canada West, on October 1, 1863, to William Harvey, Liberal Member of ...

received the appointment. This frustrated Scott to the extent that he went from being an extremely active member of the bench, to a virtually non-existent member for the next decade. However, on 15 September 1921, he became the Chief Justice of Alberta and presided over the Supreme Court of Alberta Appellate Division. This reignited the feud with Harvey who had occupied the position of Chief Justice of Alberta since 1910.Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'', ibid.
/ref> The feud was resolved in Scott's favour by the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

in ''Reference re Chief Justice of Alberta''.

Later life

Scott was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in 1924.

Death

He died in Cooking Lake, Alberta, where he had a summer cottage, at the age of 78 in 1924. He was interred in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, David Lynch 1845 births 1924 deaths Lawyers in Alberta Judges in Alberta Mayors of Regina, Saskatchewan People from Brampton 19th-century King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Pre-Confederation Saskatchewan people Judges in the Northwest Territories Canadian King's Counsel 19th-century mayors of places in Ontario 19th-century mayors of places in Saskatchewan