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Thomas Wardlaw Taylor
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Lawyer, judge.
Born at Auchtermuchly, Scotland on 23 March 1833, the son of Reverend John Taylor DD MD, he received a BA degree from Edinburgh University (1852) and an MA degree from the University of Toronto (1856). He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1858, created a Queen's Counsel in 1881, and knighted in 1897.
He came to Manitoba in 1872 to practise law and was Master in Chancery (1872-1883), Puisne Judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench (1883-1887), and Chief Justice (1887-1899). In addition to writing several legal books he was administrator of the Government of Manitoba (1890-1893), Judge of the Exchequer Court, Ottawa (1900-1908), Director of the Moral and Social Reform Council (1908-1910), and for several years was chairman of the board of management of Manitoba College.
He gained distinction as a jurist for handing down the decision against Louis Riel in 1885. In 1892, he sided with Judge John Farquhar Bain against Judge Joseph Dubuc in endorsing the government’s policy to abolish separate schools. He wrote a number of books on legal matters, such as Grand Orders of the Court of Chancery (1865) and Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence, Founded on Story (1875). He was regarded as an expert on Canadian church law. Among his works written in Manitoba were The Public Statutes Relating to the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1879). In 1895 he published The Individual and the State: An Essay on Justice.
He was active in Knox Church and later was instrumental in establishing Augustine Church, being one of its first elders. Following his move to Hamilton, Ontario in 1903, he served as an elder in St. Paul Presbyterian Church and gained recognition as an authority on church law in Canada. He was married twice.
At the time of his death in Hamilton, Ontario on 2 March 1917, Taylor was survived by his widow, three sons, and three daughters. He is commemorated by Wardlaw Street in Winnipeg.
See also:
Thomas Wardlaw Taylor, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XIV, 990-93.
“Sir Thos. Taylor dies at Hamilton,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 March 1917, page 4.
Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
We thank Glen Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 February 2024
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