Sir George William Burton (July 21, 1818August 22, 1901) was a British-Canadian lawyer and judge. He was

Chief Justice of Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

from 1897 to 1900.

Biography

Burton was born in

Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including sev ...

, England, on July 21, 1818, the second son of Admiral George Guy Burton,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. He was educated at the Rochester and Chatham Proprietary School. In 1836 or 1837, Burton came to Canada and settled in

Ingersoll Ingersoll may refer to: People *Ingersoll (surname) *Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918), American lawyer and writer Places Canada * Ingersoll, Ontario United States * Ingersoll, Oklahoma * Ingersoll, Wisconsin * Ingersoll Township, Michigan * ...

, where he began studying law in the office of his paternal uncle, Edmund Burton. He was called to the bar in 1841 or 1842. Thereafter, he practised law in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. Burton also practised in partnership with Charles A. Sadleir, as Burton & Sadleir, for many years. He was a reformer in politics. On June 9, 1850, Burton married Elizabeth Perkins, daughter of Dr. F. Perkins, of Kingston, Jamaica, and niece and adopted daughter of Colonel Charles Cranston Dixon, of the 90th Regiment. Burton acted as solicitor for the city of Hamilton; also for the

Canada Life Assurance Company The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assur ...

, of which he was a director, having been elected to that position soon after his elevation to the bench. In 1856 he was nominated as

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

, and when that body became elective by the profession at large, under an Ontario statute passed in 1871,''An act to make the members of the Law Society of Ontario elective by the bar thereof''
SO 1871–71
(31 Vict), c 15 he was elected to the position. In 1862 or 1863, he was named a

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 ...

. Burton was appointed a judge of the Court of Error and Appeal on May 30, 1874, moving to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario. Upon the elevation of

Samuel Henry Strong Sir Samuel Henry Strong (August 13, 1825 – August 31, 1909) was a lawyer and the third Chief Justice of Canada. Life Strong was born in Poole, England, to Samuel Spratt Strong and Jane Elizabeth Gosse. He emigrated to Upper Canada with hi ...

to the Supreme Court of Canada, in October 1865, Burton became the senior justice of the Court of Appeal. Burton was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario in 1897 and was knighted in 1898. He died on August 22, 1901, in Toronto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, George William 1818 births 1901 deaths People from Sandwich, Kent English emigrants to Canada Judges in Ontario Lawyers in Ontario Canadian Knights Bachelor