William Osgoode (March 1754 – January 17, 1824) was the first

Chief Justice of Upper Canada 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 ...

(now known as

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Life and career

He was born William Osgood in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1754 to William Osgood (died 1767). His family was Methodist and

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

recounted on Sunday, 13 December 1767 that "I was desired to preach a funeral sermon for William Osgood. He came to London nearly thirty years ago, and from nothing increased more and more, till he was worth several thousands of pounds. He was a good man, and died in peace. Nevertheless, I believe his money was a great clog to him, and kept him in a poor, low state all his days, making no such advance as he might have done, either in holiness or happiness." He attended

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

and was called to the bar in 1779. On December 31, 1791, he was appointed first Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Although he mainly sought the opinions of lawyers from England, Osgoode attempted to adapt the English civil law of the time to fit the needs of a developing colony. For example, he allowed justices of the peace to perform marriages when

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priests were not readily available. Osgoode's Judicature Act of 1794 established a system of district courts and a superior provincial court. During his term, legislation was also introduced to abolish

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Osgoode also served as a member of

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...

's Executive Council for Upper Canada. He also served as Speaker of the Legislative Council (the upper house of the Assembly) in both Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In 1794, he became Chief Justice of

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 ...

. Osgoode came into conflict with

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Robert Prescott General Robert Prescott (21December 1815) was a British military officer and colonial administrator. During a military career which spanned over fifty years, he participated in the Seven Years' War, the French and Indian War, and the American ...

over an attempt to sort out the issue of land grants in the region. When Prescott was recalled, he came into conflict with Prescott's successor, Lieutenant Governor Robert Shore Milnes. In 1801, Osgoode resigned and returned to London. He became a member of the Royal Commission on the Courts of Law and help form what eventually led to the Uniformity of Process Act in 1832. Unmarried, Osgoode died in London in 1824 and is buried in St. Mary's Church, Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...

, the location of the Ontario Court of Appeal and the headquarters of the

Law Society of Ontario 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 ...

, was named after him, as was

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the ''Osgoode Hall La ...

. In addition, the former

Osgoode Township Osgoode Township is a former township that is now a part of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The township along the Rideau River was established in 1798 and incorporated in 1850. It was an independent township in Carleton County until its ...

in Ontario also bears his name.

References

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Finding aid to the "William Osgoode collection" at the Archives of the Law Society of Upper Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osgoode, William Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English barristers Chief justices of Lower Canada Chief justices of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada Lawyers from London 1754 births 1824 deaths British expatriates in Canada