The Honourable Judge Glenson Baker was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1930. He soon moved along with his family to North Vancouver, where he grew up and attended high school. He matriculated to the University of British Columbia, where he obtained a B.A. in 1952 and subsequently his LL. B. in 1955. He entered practice in White Rock with the firm of Thompson, Wilson, and Baker in 1956. He focused on civil law and never went to court, eventually leaving the firm with his colleague Ed Scarlett to begin their own partnership.
Glenson Baker was appointed to the British Columbia Provincial Court in 1980. With his civil law experience he took to handling most of the Surrey Small Claims cases, sitting in a converted government liquor store in Cloverdale. All business of the Surrey Provincial Court was joined together at a location on Highway 10 and 143rd Street in 1990, a move which also brought the expectation that all judges would be 'generalists.' Seeking to retain his previous responsibility for civil cases, Judge Baker made a deal with the court's administrative judge. In exchange for agreeing to hear all of the civil cases, Judge Baker would not be required to hear any other cases under Provincial Court jurisdiction. In this expansive task of handling all civil cases for Surrey, he was most capably assisted by his clerk Claire McDonald, who also happened to share his love of American-made cars.
Judge Baker was known for his own unique style as a judge. He required lawyers know and honour the court process (as they were well-paid by their clients to do so). He cared strongly for the substantive law, and ensured he stayed up to day on recent decisions but also reread old cases to understand and remember them better and better. He was kind to his colleagues and junior members of the bench, and was always willing to share his expertise in civil matters.
Personally, Glenson Baker loved jazz and blues, music which he also knew a great deal about and would share with his friends through gifts of his favorite recordings. He was himself a skilled musician, who once opened for Louis Armstrong before his show at Isy's in Vancouver. After his retirement, he wrote and published mystery novels, drawing on his legal memories to skillfully invent fiction.
Judge Glenson Baker passed away in June 2016.