Patrick Kerwin (October 25, 1889 – February 2, 1963) was a Canadian judge who served as the tenth

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of 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 system. The '' Supreme Court Ac ...

from 1954 to 1963 and as a

puisne justice 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 ...

from 1935 to 1954.

Life and career

Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin was born in

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

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 ...

to Patrick Kerwin and Ellen Gavin. Kerwin attended

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

in 1908. He articled in Sarnia with R. V. Le Sueur. In 1911 Kerwin moved to

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, where he practiced law for over 21 years with Guthrie and Guthrie, later changed to Guthrie and Kerwin. During that time, he served as solicitor for the city of Guelph and Wellington County, as well as Crown prosecutor. In 1932 he was appointed to the High Court of Ontario.

Supreme Court of Canada

On July 20, 1935, Kerwin was appointed a

of the

. In 1954, after 19 years on the court, Kerwin was appointed as Chief Justice, replacing the retired

Thibaudeau Rinfret Thibaudeau Rinfret (June 22, 1879 – July 25, 1962) was a Canadian jurist who served as the ninth Chief Justice of Canada from 1944 to 1954 and briefly as Administrator of Canada from January to February 1952. He also served as a puisne jus ...

, with the honorific "

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

"."The Honourable Patrick Kerwin, P.C.", Supreme Court of Canada Biographies.
/ref> Kerwin was considered an able judge and administrator. There was a minor controversy over him being Catholic, as Rinfret was also Catholic. Kerwin was deemed to be in poor health when appointed and there were rumours he would retire during his tenure but served 9 years. Five different puisne judges were appointed to the court during those years, an unusually high number. Kerwin died on February 2, 1963, at the age of 73.

Life and career

Supreme Court of Canada

References

Further reading