Patrick Kerwin (October 25, 1889 – February 2, 1963) was the tenth

Chief Justice of Canada The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du 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 sy ...

Life and career

Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin was born in

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 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 where Lake Huron ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

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. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall Law ...

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", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

, 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 High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

Supreme Court of Canada

On July 20, 1935, Kerwin was appointed a

puisne justice A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) 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 ...

. 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 and the ninth Chief Justice of Canada and Administrator of Canada in 1952. Early life Rinfret was born in Montreal in 1879, the son of François-Olivier Rinfret and A ...

. 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 associate judges were appointed to the court during those years, an unusually high number. Kerwin died on February 2, 1963, at the age of 73.

References

External links

Supreme Court of Canada biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerwin, Patrick Chief justices of Canada Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Sarnia Canadian people of Irish descent 1889 births 1963 deaths Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Canadian King's Counsel