Selected Reprints from the
Grand River Branch Newsletter, Branches
"Compensating For the Shortage of Legal
Personnel In Early Ontario"
Angela E.M. Files, November 2000,
Vol.12 No.2, Page 3
In the 1780s and
on, with the arrival of Loyalists in Ontario, there was a scarcity of
legal professionals in the newly-created settlements. It was
essential to keep law and order in the various communities. In order
to compensate for the lack of legal personnel, the provincial government
of the day selected Justices of the Peace or Magistrates in the different
areas.
Justices of the Peace or Magistrates were appointed in numbers, never in
isolation, to specific areas. Essentially they were private,
non-legal citizens in good standing in their community, selected to hear
information and complaints of crime and to initiate appropriate legal
process. In early days the Justices of the Peace provided workable
and reasonably effective local government to compensate for the shortage
of legal professionals.
Today
the role of Justices of the Peace is presiding in non-criminal cases such
as: bail hearing, highway and traffic offences, health and safety and
Provincial Acts. Criminal offences, murders, thefts, break and
entries are presented in criminal courts.
The following list of magistrates or Justices of the Peace (J.P.)
appointed along the middle Grand River area show that many of the
appointees were from families of Loyalist descent, British and American
immigrants. Perhaps one of your Loyalist ancestors is located on
this list.
List of
Magistrates or Justices of the Peace who Have
Qualified in the
County of Brant |
|
William N. Algier |
Daniel Anderson |
Thomas Armour |
George Ballachy |
Benjamin Bell |
James
Bellhouse |
Alonzo Benedict |
Herbert Biggar |
Thomas Botham |
Robert R. Brown |
Thomas Broughton |
David
Brown |
George Bryce |
Robert Burt |
David
Burtch |
Richard Catton |
Charles Chapin |
Lyman
Chapin |
Solomon Chatterson |
George Chittenden |
John
Comerford |
Thomas Conboy |
Allen
H. Cook |
Daniel Cope |
Lancelot Davidson |
Humphrey Davis |
John
W. Downs |
Robert Eadie |
Constant Eddy |
John
Eddy |
John
Elliott |
John
Randal Ellis |
Hugh
Finlayson |
Gavid
Fleming |
Cornelius H. Forman |
Alonzo Foster |
Francis Foster |
Caleb
S. Fowler |
Thomas Glason |
James
Graham |
Cyrus
R. Griffin |
Charles Gurney |
Abraham Hawley |
Charles Hedgers or Hedges |
Richard Herdsman |
Benjamin O. Howell |
Thomas James |
S.J.C.C.J. Jones |
John
Johnson |
Wellesley Johnston |
James
Kent |
Edward Kitchen |
Andrew Kyle |
John
Lampkin |
James
Laughrey |
Henry
C. Latthan |
Joseph Lawrason |
John
Lawrence |
Henry
B. Leeming |
Henry
Lemmon |
William Likins |
Elias
Long |
John
McDiarmid |
Thomas McKenzie |
Daniel McNaughton |
Aaron
McWilliams |
Thomas Maginn |
Eliakim Malcolm |
S.D.
Muir |
Robert Muir |
William Mullen |
William
G. Nellis |
Samuel Nevin |
James
Nimmo |
William Oliver |
Daniel
O'Neil |
William Patton |
Charles
S. Perley |
Andrew Perrin |
Hiram
Phelps |
William G. Powell |
Matthew
W. Pruyn |
Joseph Quinlan |
Ephraim
Randall |
Walter Renwick |
William
Richmond |
Ebenezer Roy |
William
Roy |
Walter Sage |
David
Secord |
James
C. Secord |
James
Sharpe |
Thomas S. Shenston |
George
Smith |
Russell Smith |
Robert
Sproule |
Georeg Stanton |
George
Stephenson |
Samuel Tapley |
Henry
Taylor |
John
Tennant |
Joseph
Thomas |
John
Thompson |
Daniel
Totten |
Henry
G. Townsend |
John
Toyne |
James
Trimble |
John
Tufford |
William Turnbull |
John
Turner |
Edward Vanderlip |
Edward
W. Vanderlip |
James
Wallace |
William
Watt |
Andrew Westbrook |
Peter
Westbrook |
James
Weyms |
John
Whiting |
Charles Whitlaw |
James
Wilkes |
John
Wye |
Henry
Yates |
Edmund Yeigh |
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