George Pyke (January 19, 1775 – February 3, 1851) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. His surname is sometimes recorded as Pike. He was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

in 1775, the son of

John George Pyke John George Pyke (4 January 1744 – 3 September 1828) was an English-born merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County from 1779 to 1793 and Halifax Township from 1793 to 1800 and from 1802 to 1818 in the Nova Sco ...

, and studied law with

Richard John Uniacke, Jr. Richard John Uniacke (June 6, 1789 – February 21, 1834) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Cape Breton County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1820 to 1830. He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia ...

He was called to the Quebec bar in 1796. In 1799, he was appointed deputy surveyor general for Lower Canada. Pyke was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of ele ...

for Gaspé in 1804 and represented the region until 1814. He was named advocate general for the province in 1812. In 1820, he was named judge in the Court of King's Bench at Montreal. From 1839 to 1842, he took on the functions of chief justice, without receiving the title. In 1842, he retired from the bench at the request of Governor Sir

Charles Bagot Sir Charles Bagot GCB (23 September 1781 – 19 May 1843) was a British politician, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as ambassador to the United States, Russia, and the Netherlands. He served as the second Governor General of ...

. In 1811, Pyke published ''Cases argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench for the district of Quebec in the province of Lower-Canada ...'', the first collection of decisions compiled for Lower Canada. Pyke owned a large amount of property in the

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (french: Cantons de l'Est) is an historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby in the southwest, to Drummondv ...

and a large estate at Pointe-à-Cavagnal (later

Hudson, Quebec Hudson is an off-island suburb of Montreal, with a population of 5,135 ( 2011 Census). It is located on the south-west bank of the lower Ottawa River, in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. Situated about west of downtown Montreal, ...

). He died at his estate in 1851. His sister Anne married James Irvine, who also served in the legislative assembly. His daughter Eliza Phoebe married

Henry Pryor Henry Pryor (July 3, 1808 – October 10, 1892) was a lawyer, magistrate and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Halifax County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1859 to 1867. He was born in Halifax, the son of ...

, who became a member of the provincial assembly and mayor of Halifax.

External links

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George Pyke - Canadian Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyke, George 1775 births 1851 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Lower Canada judges Province of Canada judges