Law History Profiles
Displaying 501 - 516 of 516
Robert Duncan Ross remembers two things from his undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia - playing rugby and compulsory military drills required of all men his age during the Second World War. He continued schooling at UBC, graduating from law school in 1949. He left Vancouver half-way through articling to road trip with a friend to Florida, where they found a berth on a sailing vessel to adventure around the Caribbean for half a year.
Montague Lawrence Tyrwhitt-Drake came from a family line closely associated with the legal profession. His grandfather (also Montague Tyrwhitt-Drake) came to Canada from England with dreams of making it rich in the gold rush. He didn't, but instead had settled in Victoria by 1863. He quickly became established in the community, representing British Columbia in the Legislative Council from 1868-1870…
Born in Vancouver in 1927, Harry Bell-Irving was the youngest of four children. During his early school years, his teachers attested that he “knew everything” and moved him up a grade. He first enrolled at UBC in 1943 in Commerce two years before the Law School came into being; however, he says that he always intended to become a lawyer and “would have gone into law earlier if I could.” After three years in Commerce, Bell-Irving joined 160 other 1Ls in what would eventually become the Class of 1949.
The luxury setting is spartan yet sensual, with none of the almost mandatory indiscretions of taste one commonly finds in business offices (polished floors, thick carpets, and substantial furniture awaiting the arrival of the stars of Dallas or Dynasty). The place is the 15th floor executive offices of Westcoast Transmission and John Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer, comfortably dominates his surroundings. His windows command an exhilarating view of Vancouver's mountain-rimmed harbour; he can look down to the moorage of his 34 ft.
Garde Basil Gardom, in the eyes of many of the bright eyed, young lawyers practicing today, is old-fashioned. He believes in “putting breach on the water” – not overcharging the client; he believes good manners and courtesy are important; he makes judgments of other people’s character on the basis of whether or not they would “pull someone out of the water,” if they were in difficulty …
“I was born in a tar paper shack in Saskatchewan called Piapot, where Buff Sainte-Marie is from. My parents moved from Vancouver to get free land. It was the biggest mistake they made. They were there for about five years – that’s where I was born – and then they came back to Vancouver" ...
Ray Herbert arrived at the office of Treasurer by a different route than his colleagues. His background has been with the Faculty of Law at UBC, almost from its start. Ray was born in Calgary, Alberta. Although “warlike” is the last adjective which could be chosen to describe him, he joined the 14th Calgary Regiment (Cavalry) at the tender age of seventeen and then joined the R.C.A.F. as soon as he was able; shipping over to England, and flew many missions in Halifaxes ...
It is no small challenge to capture, in a few short pages, the essential details of the professional and personal lives of those distinguished folk who appear on the front cover of the Advocate. The challenge is particularly daunting with a subject like William C. McConnell—“Bill” to his friends. A prominent and successful barrister for 34 years, a distinguished writer and editor—there is so much to say and so little space in which to say it …
“Seventy-eight of us rose from the ash cans of war—76 men and two women—and descended on the campus looking for the law school,” McKenzie recalls. “It existed only in the abstract, as there was no building. We found it embodied in the person of Dean George Curtis.” With two years of Arts courses at Victoria College and an honours degree in English and Philosophy from UBC, McKenzie had joined the Army and was posted to Europe.
When David Tupper takes office as Treasurer of The Law Society of British Columbia in January, 1987, he will be following in the footsteps of his father, Reginald Hibbert Tupper, Q.C. who was Treasurer for two years from 1949 to 1951, and his grandfather, Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, Q.C., who was Treasurer in the nineteen twenties. David's great-grandfather, also Sir Charles Tupper, being a physician rather than a lawyer, was not eligible to be Treasurer and so contented himself by serving as a Founder of Confederation and as Prime Minister of Canada…
Robert William Bonner, CD, QC a native son of Vancouver, British Columbia, has distinguished himself in a varied and interesting career. His early education took place at Hastings School, Templeton Junior High School and he later attended Britannia High School and the University of British Columbia. While at the University, he became an accomplished debater and won the McGown cup, returning it to the University after a lapse of many years ...
Edward Thomas Cantell, QC (1918 – 2007) was always very proud of his West Coast roots. Born in New Westminster, BC, Mr. Cantell naturally entered UBC after graduating high school. However, the young man’s studies were interrupted by World War II, whereupon he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, trained as a navigator and completed numerous tours of duty over Europe. Upon his safe return, Mr. Cantell applied and was admitted into the newly created Faculty of Law at UBC.
Gordon Martin graduated as a member of the first class of the law school at UBC, completed his articles and appeared to fulfill all of the requirements for admission to the bar of British Columbia. His application was controversially rejected by the Law Society of British Columbia “based on the finding that [he was] a communist and an adherent to and a supporter of communist doctrines and teachings..." This ostensibly violated the requirement of being "a person of good repute within the meaning of the Legal Professions Act, R.S.B.C. 1936, c. 149".
Robert Delorme Plommer grew up in Vancouver, attended Magee high school and fell in love with golf as a junior at the old Shaughnessy Golf Club. While he was attending UBC, the Second World War broke out. After Germany attacked Russia in July 1941, Bob, at 19, decided that he had better enlist because the war might end before his draft number came up. He joined the air force where he became a navigator. He completed 27 bombing missions over Germany and Occupied France with RCAF 432 Squadron under Bomber Command.
“I was born in 1922, when you had to have cranks to start the cars - some of us have remained cranky ever since. I was born in Saskatchewan in a snow storm ... My father was a general manager there. He remained in the prairies until about 1925. Immediately prior to his departure from Saskatchewan, he was involved in the bank hold up," begins Blair Baillie ...