Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet

Sir James Stuart Bt
Chief Justice of Lower Canada
In office 1838–1853
Member of the Special Council of Lower Canada
In office 1838; 1839
President of the Special Council of Lower Canada
In office 1839–1841
Preceded by	James Cuthbert Jr.
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Solicitor General for Lower Canada
In office 1805–1809
Attorney General for Lower Canada
In office 1825–1832
Preceded by	Norman Fitzgerald Uniacke
Succeeded by	Charles Richard Ogden
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal East
In office 1808–1820
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Buckingham
In office 1814
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for William Henry
In office 1825–1827
Personal details
Born	(1780-03-02)March 2, 1780 Fort Hunter, New York
Died	July 14, 1853(1853-07-14) (aged 73) Québec City, Province of Canada
Party	Parti canadien (until 1825) British Party (after 1825)
Spouse	Elizabeth Robertson (m. 1818)
Children	4
Parent	Rev. John Stuart (father)
Education	University of King's College
Profession	Lawyer

Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet of Oxford (March 2, 1780 – July 14, 1853) was a lawyer, judge, and political figure in Lower Canada.

Personal life

He was born in Fort Hunter, New York, in 1780, the son of the Anglican priest John Stuart, a United Empire Loyalist. He studied at King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia and then apprenticed in law in Lower Canada with John Reid and then Jonathan Sewell; he was called to the bar in 1801.

Politics

Stuart served as personal secretary for Lieutenant Governor Sir Robert Shore Milnes. In 1805, he was named solicitor general for the province. Stuart was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for Montreal East in 1808 and was reelected in 1809. He supported the Parti canadien in the assembly. He was defeated in 1810, but elected for Montreal County in an 1811 by-election and served as leader of the Parti canadien, replacing Pierre-Stanislas Bédard. In 1814, he was elected for both Montreal and Buckingham counties and chose to represent Montreal; he was reelected in 1816. In the assembly, Stuart led the attack against the judges Jonathan Sewell and James Monk; it was felt that by revising the rules of practice for the courts, these judges had stepped outside of their jurisdiction and taken on authority that should have been under the control of the legislature. After his party lost interest in pursuing this issue after 1817, Stuart lost interest in the affairs of the assembly. He was not reelected in 1820.

Unlike his former party, Stuart supported the union of Upper and Lower Canada proposed in 1822. In 1825, he was named Attorney General for Lower Canada. He was elected to the assembly for the riding of William-Henry in an 1825 by-election, now a supporter of the British party; he was defeated by Wolfred Nelson in the general election held in 1827. Stuart was named to the Executive Council of Lower Canada in 1827 and served until the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841. He was dismissed as attorney general in 1832, after having been accused by the assembly of conflict of interest in a case involving the Hudson's Bay Company, which had retained Stuart as its attorney, and other abuses of his position. He was offered the position of Chief Justice for Colony of Newfoundland as a form of compensation, but refused this offer and returned to private practice. He served as a member of the Special Council that governed the province after the Lower Canada Rebellion and was president of this council from 1839 to 1841. Stuart was also named Chief Justice of Lower Canada in 1838. In 1841, he was created a baronet, of Oxford in the County of Oxford.

He died at Quebec City in 1853.

His brother Andrew was also a lawyer and a long-time member of the legislative assembly. His nephew George Okill Stuart later served in the legislative assembly for the Province of Canada and also as a mayor of Quebec City.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Sir James Stuart, 1st Baronet

Adopted 1841 Crest Issuant from a Roman fasces a demi-lion holding a thistle slipped and leaved proper Escutcheon Or a fess chequy Azure and Ermine between in chief two crosses patté Gules and in base a thistle slipped and leaved proper all within a bordure Azure Motto JUSTITIÆ PROPOSITIQUE TENAX (Latin for 'Tenacious of justice and firm of purpose') Other elements Red hand of Ulster baronet badge

External links

• "Biography of James Stuart". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• Kolish, Evelyn (1985). "Stuart, Sir James". In Halpenny, Francess G. (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VIII (1851–1860) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.