Canada had a new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on this date in 1918 with the appointment, by Sir Robert Borden, of PEI’s Sir Louis Henry Davies to the position. He had sat on Canada’s highest court since 1901 when he was appointed a Puisne Justice Court by Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in 1845, Davies, a Liberal, went on to enjoy great political success in the province’s earliest days. He was elected to PEI’s Legislature in 1872 and served until 1879. Davies became PEI’s third Premier, holding that office from 1876 to 1879.
PEI voters then sent their former Premier to Ottawa as MP and Davies served in the House from 1882 until his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1901. You can read more about his life and career at his entry at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography on-line at this link: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/davies_louis_henry_15E.html[caption id="attachment_1576510" align="alignleft" width="210"]
Sir Louis Henry Davies[/caption]
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.