Lawyer, professor, historian.
Born at Winnipeg on 17 May 1933, son of Anna Sarah Johnston (1907-1987) and Benjamin Boright “Ben” Gibson (1904-1992), he grew up in East Kildonan. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from United College (1954), a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Manitoba Law School (1958), and a Master of Laws degree from the Harvard Law School (1959). He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1960 and practiced law in Manitoba (1959-1991) and Alberta (1991-2008) until retirement in 2008.
He was a Professor of Law at the University of Manitoba (1959-1991) and University of Alberta (1988-2001), was an inaugural member of the Manitoba Law Reform Commission, chaired the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, and was an executive member of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Foundation. He wrote two books on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He also wrote extensively in legal history, including Attorney for the Frontier: Enos Stutsmon (1983) and the two-volume Law, Life, and Government at Red River (2015).
He was married twice, first on 18 May 1956 to Lee Patterson with whom he collaborated on historical research and had two children. After their divorce, his second wife was Sandra Mosher Anderson.
He died at Edmonton, Alberta on 29 January 2022.
Marriage registration [Anna Sarah Johnston, Benjamin Boright Gibson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Kitchen shower held for Lee Patterson,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 May 1956, page 16.
“3 law students admitted to Bar,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 May 1960, page 8.
Obituary [Benjamin B. Gibson], Winnipeg Free Press, 27 April 1992, page 22.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 2022.
Obituary, Trinity Funeral Home.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 6 February 2022
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