Levius Peters Sherwood (December 12, 1777 – May 19, 1850) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in

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 ...

. He was born at St. Johns 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 ...

, the son of Justus Sherwood. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1803. In 1804, he was appointed registrar for Grenville,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, and Carleton and customs inspector. In the same year, he married Charlotte Jones, daughter of Ephraim Jones. In 1812, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lie ...

representing Leeds. In 1818, he successfully defended two Métis against charges of murdering Robert Semple in the

Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...

. In 1820, he was appointed judge in the Johnstown District court. He was reelected to the Legislative Assembly in 1820 and he was chosen as speaker the following year. In 1825, he was appointed to the Court of King's Bench. He played an important role in the trials for treason that followed the Upper Canada Rebellion. He retired from the bench in 1840. Sherwood was named to the council of King's College in 1841. He was appointed to the

Legislative Council of the Province of Canada The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known ...

in 1842 and the Executive Council in 1843. He died at

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 anch ...

in 1850. His son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

became a member of the Legislative Assembly, a judge and mayor of Toronto. His brother Samuel served in the legislative assemblies of Upper and

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Levius Peters Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Canadian judges 1777 births 1850 deaths Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada 19th-century Canadian judges