Thomas Galt, the son of John Galt and Elizabeth Tilloch, was born in London on 12 August 1815. He was educated at Musselburgh Grammar School
and Reading School. In 1828 he travelled
with his mother and brothers to Canada to be with his father, founder of the
Canada Company. He and his brothers
attended the Rev Joseph Braithwaite’s school at Chambly (now a suburb of
Montreal) and later the boys returned to London with their mother.
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| Sir Thomas Galt (1815-1901) |
In 1833, aged just 18, Thomas and his elder brother, John returned to Canada. John Galt writes -
“While employed on my Autobiography, my two eldest sons
resolved to go to Canada. The eldest, in
my opinion very prudently, determined to be nothing but a farmer; the other
carried with him a recommendation from the Directors of the Canada company, to
be received into their establishment, which I do think was very kind of them to
give, after the manner I had been obliged to speak from experience of my own
treatment by the Company.” (Literary Life 1)
Thomas decided to study law in Toronto and entered the office of
William Henry Draper who later became Attorney General for Upper Canada. In 1845 Thomas was called to the bar of Upper
Canada and in 1847 he married Frances Louisa Perkins (1825-1909). The couple had a large family and lived on Pembroke Street, Toronto.
In 1852 he entered partnership with Hon John Ross
(1818-1871). In 1855 Thomas became a
Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and in 1858 he was appointed a
Queen’s Counsel. He acted as Council
for various railway companies who were opening up the country at that time.
He seems to have been very highly thought of as this quote from The Barrister shows -
“Sir Thomas is one of those kind-hearted men who make the
world better by living in it. He never
enters a room but that his cheerful smile and cheery manner cast a ray of
sunshine around. You can notice the
effect perceptibly on the countenances of everyone present. The success of such a man’s life can never be
measured by his public acts; he has probably made a thousand hearts happier
that he does not know of himself, and so it has been with Sir Thomas Galt."
As well as a civil practice he was also a criminal
lawyer. He was involved in several high-profile
cases including in 1872 the
trial of Phoebe Campbell for murdering her husband. She was found guilty and hanged. In 1869 Galt was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
for Ontario.
He was described in Canadian Portrait Gallery –
“In addition to the attainments properly belonging to him as an eminent lawyer, he is known as a master of style, and his judgements are marked not less by their depth of learning than by the stateliness of the diction in which they are written.”
In 1887 he was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario and was given
a knighthood in 1888. He retired in 1894,
but it was said that he often frequented Osgoode Hall, to have a chat with his
associates or the Toronto Club where he liked to play whist. Sir Thomas Galt died
1901 and was buried in St James Cemetery, Toronto.
