Douglas Benjamin Woodworth, (June 1, 1841 – January 2, 1900) was a lawyer and member of the

Woodworth political family The Woodworth political family is a collection of American and Canadian politicians who descend directly from colonial settler Walter Woodworth. They rose to prominence in the 19th century, serving in several states, in the United States House of Re ...

from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. He represented

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 1882 to 1887 as a

Liberal-Conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

member.

Life

He was born in Canning, Nova Scotia, the son of Benjamin Baxter Woodworth and Eunice L. Pineo. Woodworth was educated at the Sackville Academy, at Truro, and at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. In 1865, he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Senator

Ezra Churchill Ezra Churchill (May 18, 1806 – May 8, 1874): Nineteenth-century industrialist, investing in shipbuilding, land, timber for domestic and foreign markets, gypsum quarries, insurance companies, hotels, etc. As a politician he held positions i ...

. In the same year, he was called to the Nova Scotia bar.

Public service

He represented King's County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1871 to 1878 as a Conservative, considered the de facto leader of his party. Woodworth ran unsuccessfully for a federal seat in 1878 but was elected in 1882. In 1884, he was named

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. The ''Toronto Mail'' and ''Montreal Gazette'' considered him the parliamentarian and speaker of the parliament, and he was considered the best debater. He was unsuccessful when he ran for reelection in 1887.

Landers v. Woodworth

Woodworth sparked the landmark Canadian Supreme Court decision in ''Landers v. Woodworth (1878), 2 S.C.R. 158'', which justified the provincial legislatures passing statutes outlining the privileges of their members. This had a dramatic impact on the early governance of Canada, which continues into the modern era. The provincial legislatures previously had attempted to legislate their privileges, which were repeatedly rendered by the

privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

as '' ultra vires''. The case arose in 1874 when Woodworth charged the provincial secretary of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly with falsifying a record. The charge was investigated and deemed unfounded. Subsequently, the assembly charged Woodworth with breach of privilege by making accusations without sufficient evidence to support it. They ordered Woodworth to make a dictated apology and he refused. The assembly then passed a resolution charging Woodworth with contempt and ordered him to withdraw until the apology was made. Woodworth refused to apologize or withdraw, which then the assembly passed a resolution ordering the

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

to physically remove Woodworth for obstruction. Woodworth then filed a complaint charging the speaker and other members with assault, where he won a $500 verdict. Following an appeal where the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in favor of Woodworth, the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

ruled that absent an actual obstruction of business by Woodworth, the legislature had no authority to remove him and they were liable. The decision incorporated English law into the decision, which defined in Canada that a member of a legislature does not violate privilege by making a charge the assembly chose to investigate. On the issue of privilege statutes passed by the provincial legislatures, the court ruled it was not ''ultra vires'' for them to pass statutes defining their privileges, and recognized their discretion in passing such laws.

Death

Woodworth died in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

at the age of 58.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodworth, Douglas Benjamin 1841 births 1900 deaths Harvard University alumni Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

Canadian King's Counsel