John Guest (died 8 September 1707) was a Chief Justice of the provincial

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as the "Supreme Court" of Pennsylvania were made offici ...

. Guest was born in England, where he received a university education, and probably engaged in the practice of law before coming to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Shortly after his arrival in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1701, he was commissioned by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

as chief justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania and presiding judge of the courts of

common pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

, and the

orphans' court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts or ...

of the city and county of Philadelphia. He served as chief justice in 1701, 1702, and 1705, as an associate justice in the same court in 1704, and as presiding judge of the other courts from 1701 till 1706. In July 1701, he was invited by Penn to a seat in his council, of which he remained a member until his death.

References

Year of birth missing 1707 deaths People from colonial Pennsylvania Chief justices of Pennsylvania Members of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council {{Pennsylvania-state-judge-stub