George Burbidge

Who was George Burbidge?

George Wheelock Burbidge was a Canadian lawyer, judge and author. After being called to the bar of New Brunswick in 1872, he became a partner in the Saint John, New Brunswick law firm of Harrison and Burbidge.

In 1882, Burbidge was appointed federal deputy minister of justice. He is noted for having conducted the prosecution of Louis Riel during his trial for treason following the North-West Rebellion of 1885.

In October 1887, he subsequently became the first justice of the Exchequer Court, the predecessor to the modern Federal Court of Canada. Two of his rulings that are considered especially important are:

Samson v. The Queen, 2 Ex. C.R, 30

St. John Gas Light Co. v. The Queen, 4 Ex. C. R. 326

In his early years as a judge, he published A Digest of the Criminal Law of Canada, which heavily influenced the groundbreaking Criminal Code of Canada of 1892.