Patrick Kerwin
Chief Justice of Canada from 1954 to 1963
title: "Patrick Kerwin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chief-justices-of-canada", "members-of-the-king's-privy-council-for-canada", "administrators-of-the-government-of-canada", "people-from-sarnia", "canadian-people-of-irish-descent", "1889-births", "1963-deaths", "osgoode-hall-law-school-alumni", "canadian-king's-counsel"] description: "Chief Justice of Canada from 1954 to 1963" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Kerwin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Chief Justice of Canada from 1954 to 1963 ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific-prefix | The Honourable |
| name | Patrick Kerwin |
| honorific-suffix | |
| image | Patrick Kerwin (cropped).jpg |
| caption | Kerwin, c. 1954 |
| order | 10th |
| office | Chief Justice of Canada |
| predecessor | Thibaudeau Rinfret |
| successor | Robert Taschereau |
| term_start | July 1, 1954 |
| term_end | February 2, 1963 |
| nominator | Louis St. Laurent |
| office2 | Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada |
| predecessor2 | Robert Smith/Frank Joseph Hughes |
| successor2 | Douglas Abbott |
| term_start2 | July 20, 1935 |
| term_end2 | July 1, 1954 |
| nominator2 | Richard Bedford Bennett |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Sarnia, Ontario |
| death_date | |
| nationality | Canadian |
| alma_mater | Sarnia Collegiate Institute, Osgoode Hall Law School |
| :: |
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable | name = Patrick Kerwin | honorific-suffix = | image = Patrick Kerwin (cropped).jpg | caption = Kerwin, c. 1954 | imagesize = | order = 10th | office = Chief Justice of Canada | predecessor = Thibaudeau Rinfret | successor = Robert Taschereau | term_start = July 1, 1954 | term_end = February 2, 1963 | nominator = Louis St. Laurent | appointer = | office2 = Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada | predecessor2 = Robert Smith/Frank Joseph Hughes | successor2 = Douglas Abbott | term_start2 = July 20, 1935 | term_end2 = July 1, 1954 | nominator2 = Richard Bedford Bennett | appointer2 = | birth_date = | birth_place = Sarnia, Ontario | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = Canadian | spouse = | party = | relations = | children = | residence = | alma_mater = Sarnia Collegiate Institute, Osgoode Hall Law School | occupation = | profession = | religion = Patrick Kerwin (October 25, 1889 – February 2, 1963) was a Canadian judge who served as the tenth Chief Justice of Canada from 1954 to 1963 and as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1935 to 1954.
Life and career
Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Patrick Kerwin and Ellen Gavin. Kerwin attended Osgoode Hall Law School in 1908. He articled in Sarnia with R. V. Le Sueur. In 1911 Kerwin moved to Guelph, where he practiced law for over 21 years with Guthrie and Guthrie, later changed to Guthrie and Kerwin. During that time, he served as solicitor for the city of Guelph and Wellington County, as well as Crown prosecutor. In 1932, he was appointed to the High Court of Ontario.
Supreme Court of Canada
On July 20, 1935, Kerwin was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1954, after 19 years on the court, Kerwin was appointed as Chief Justice, replacing the retired Thibaudeau Rinfret, with the honorific "The Honourable".
Kerwin was considered an able judge and administrator. There was a minor controversy over him being Catholic, as Rinfret was also Catholic. Kerwin was deemed to be in poor health when appointed and there were rumours he would retire during his tenure but served 9 years. Five different puisne judges were appointed to the court during those years, an unusually high number.
Kerwin died on February 2, 1963, at the age of 73.
References
References
- "Supreme Court of Canada {{!}} The Honourable Patrick Kerwin, P.C.".
- (2000-11-01). "The Supreme Court of Canada and its Justices 1875-2000: La Cour suprême du Canada et ses juges 1875-2000". Dundurn.
- McCormick, Peter. (2000-01-01). "Supreme at Last: The Evolution of the Supreme Court of Canada". James Lorimer & Company.
- [https://www.scc-csc.ca/judges-juges/bio-eng.aspx?id=patrick-kerwin "The Honourable Patrick Kerwin, P.C.", Supreme Court of Canada Biographies.]
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::