The Hon. William Firth (21 July 1768 – 25 February 1838) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, judge and

political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. Son of merchant William Firth and his wife Elizabeth, Firth studied law and became a barrister. He married Anne Watts, and they had five children. Firth wrote four political pamphlets between 1794 and 1825, all published in Norwich. In 1803, he was appointed steward of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, where he acted as city counsel and presided over the sheriff's court. He resigned soon after being commissioned as attorney general of Upper Canada through the influence of

William Windham William Windham (4 June 1810) of Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, was a British Whig statesman. Elected to Parliament in 1784, Windham was attached to the remnants of the Rockinghamite faction of Whigs, whose members included his friends Charles J ...

, colonial secretary on the 19 March 1807. Firth arrived at

York, Upper Canada York was a town and second capital of the colony of Upper Canada. It is the predecessor to the old city of Toronto (1834–1998). It was established in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe as a "temporary" location for the capital of ...

(Toronto) in time to take up his duties as attorney general in November 1807. His office had been vacant for over a year, since the appointment in January 1806 of his predecessor,

Thomas Scott Thomas Scott may refer to: Australia * Thomas Hobbes Scott (1783–1860), Anglican clergyman and first Archdeacon of New South Wales * Thomas Scott (Australian politician) (1865–1946), member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Thomas Sco ...

, as chief justice of the province. D'Arcy Boulton, the solicitor general, performed the duties of the attorney general in the interim. In April 1808, Firth asked for a transfer to

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 ...

as chief justice, but his application failed. In 1809, Firth began to ask for more money from Lieutenant Governor

Francis Gore Francis Gore, (1769 – 3 November 1852) was an English military officer and British colonial administrator in Bermuda and Upper Canada. Gore was born in Blackheath, London, England in 1769 the son of Francis Gore and Caroline Beresford. ...

's administration, as his stipend was £300 sterling a year – about half the cost of his removal to Upper Canada. By 1811, Firth's attempts to increase his fees had made him nearly friendless in the provincial administration. In March 1811, Firth claimed that all legal instruments under the great seal of the province were invalid without his signature. Firth's accounts for unauthorized court attendances were disallowed by the Board of Audit. He applied for a leave of absence to argue his case in London, was refused permission by

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

. He departed for England regardless in September 1811, and the Lieutenant-Governor suspended him, and informed Lord Liverpool, in a letter dated September 30, 1811, that "too much care cannot be exercised in choosing a successor to Mr. Firth

Gore recommended his dismissal. Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, Lord Bathurst decided that Firth was entitled to half his salary and fees from the date he left the province until 13 April 1812, when his removal from office was confirmed. Firth returned to his legal practice. In 1817, he was promoted to "serjeant at law", and he ended his career where it had begun, on the Norfolk circuit. In 1820, Firth applied for a land grant in Upper Canada, but was refused on the grounds that he was not a resident. He died intestate on February 25, 1838; succumbing to influenza in Norwich.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* Information with respect to his legal career is in Clarke's new law list. Teesdale Cockell (London), 1820: 12, 24, 292; and in the volume for 1822. * William Renwick Riddell: "William Firth: the third attorney-general of Upper Canada, 1807–1811," Canadian Bar Rev. (Toronto), 1 (1923): 326–37, 404–17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, William 1768 births 1838 deaths English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian lawyers Deaths from influenza Upper Canada judges Infectious disease deaths in England Attorneys-General of Upper Canada Immigrants to Upper Canada