Robert Sympson Jameson (1796 – August 1, 1854) was a lawyer and politician 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 the ...

, and later in the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

. He served as the first Speaker of 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 as ...

from 1841 to 1843.

Early years

He was born at

Harbridge Harbridge is a small village located some four kilometres north of Ringwood and a similar distance south of Fordingbridge, in southwest Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley. Overview The village of H ...

in the

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county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in 1796 and educated in

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, Cumbria, Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern ...

. He studied law at the

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and was called to the English bar in 1823. He practiced 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 ...

. He married Anna Murphy, a

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author, in 1825. In 1829, he was appointed

Puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

and Chief Justice of Dominica; his wife remained in

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. In 1833, he returned to London after refusing the same post in

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

Upper Canada

He was named Attorney General of Upper Canada in the same year and arrived in York (

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 ...

) in June. 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 Lis ...

for

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in 1834, but his election was later invalidated after an appeal; it was found that

Ogle Robert Gowan Ogle Robert Gowan (July 13, 1803 – August 21, 1876) was a farmer, Orangeman, journalist and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West. He was born in County Wexford, Ireland in 1803, the son of Hunter Gowan, an Orangeman and small ...

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supporters had intimidated voters. His wife finally joined him in 1836 but left him after less than a year. In 1837, he was named vice-chancellor of the Court of Chancery. He was appointed to the

in 1841 and became its first

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. He served on the councils for King's College and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. In 1842, he was named chief superintendent of education. He also was a member of literary clubs in Toronto and helped found the Toronto Society of Arts in 1847. In 1850, he retired from the Court and, in 1853, from the Legislative Council. He died in Toronto in 1854 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and left his possessions to

Reverend George Maynard The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

who cared for him at the end of his life.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jameson, Robert Sympson 1796 births 1854 deaths English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada People from New Forest District People from Ambleside Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada British Dominica judges Upper Canada judges Attorneys-General of Upper Canada Immigrants to Upper Canada Province of Canada judges Burials at St. James Cemetery, Toronto