Samuel Henry Strong

The Right Honourable Sir Samuel Henry Strong PC
3rd Chief Justice of Canada
In office December 13, 1892 – November 18, 1902
Nominated by	John Thompson
Preceded by	William Johnstone Ritchie
Succeeded by	Henri Elzéar Taschereau
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In office September 30, 1875 – December 13, 1892
Nominated by	Alexander Mackenzie
Preceded by	None (new position)
Succeeded by	Robert Sedgewick
Personal details
Born	(1825-08-13)August 13, 1825 Poole, Dorset, England
Died	August 31, 1909(1909-08-31) (aged 84) Ottawa, Ontario
Resting place	Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa
Spouse	Elizabeth Charlotte Cane

Sir Samuel Henry Strong PC (August 13, 1825 – August 31, 1909) was a lawyer and the third Chief Justice of Canada.

Life

Strong was born in Poole, England, to Samuel Spratt Strong and Jane Elizabeth Gosse. He emigrated to Upper Canada with his family in 1836, settling in Bytown (later known as Ottawa). He studied law in the office of local Ottawa lawyer Augustus Keefer. He was called to the bar in 1849 and established his practice in Toronto. He was elected a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1860 and was made a QC in 1863. In 1869, Strong was appointed vice-chancellor of the Court of Chancery of Ontario. In 1874 he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Error and Appeal.

Following Confederation he advised Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald on the establishment of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was named to the new court when it was created in 1875.

Early in the Supreme Court's history, it was criticized for the length of time it took to publish decisions in the Supreme Court Reports. Often, justices of the court handed down decisions that were not formally prepared and consisting of directions the court would take, leading to cases not being reported. Historians Snell and Vaughan note that Justice Strong was amongst the worst for this habit, with the Registrar visiting his home and threatening him with not publishing his decisions to compel Strong to complete his work. In one case the Registrar published a note "The learned judge [Strong], having mislaid his judgment, directed the reporter to report the case without it". By 1888, the Court's Registrar noted that 21 of 25 outstanding cases that had yet to be published were because Strong had not submitted his completed decisions.

He became Chief Justice in 1892 serving until his retirement in 1902, by which time he was the last of the original justices remaining. He died in 1909 at the age of 84 and was buried in Ottawa's Beechwood Cemetery.

References

Works Cited

• Snell, James G.; Vaughan, Frederick (1985). The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution. Toronto: The Osgoode Society. ISBN 978-0-8020-3417-5.

External links

• Supreme Court of Canada Biography
• "Samuel Henry Strong". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.