Charles Fitzpatrick
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The Right Honourable Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, GCMG , PC (December 19th, 1853 - June 17th, 1942) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was born in Quebec City, Canada East, to John Fitzpatrick and Mary Connelly.
Fitzpatrick was called to the Quebec bar in 1856, and founded the firm of Fitzpatrick & Taschereau in Quebec City.
In 1885, he acted as chief counsel to Louis Riel who was on trial for leading the North-West Rebellion. Riel was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Fitzpatrick entered politics in 1890, winning election to the Quebec Legislative Assembly.
He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1896 federal election as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP). He served as Solicitor General of Canada from 1896 to 1902, and as Minister of Justice from 1902 until 1906. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada as Chief Justice. He served in that position until 1918 when he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.
He is the only Chief Justice other than Sir William Buell Richards to have served in that position without having first been an Associate Justice on the court. (Richards was Chief Justice at the court's creation in 1875.)
| Preceded by: Pierre-Évariste Leblanc | Lieutenant Governor of Quebec 1918-1923 | Succeeded by: Louis-Philippe Brodeur |
| Preceded by: Henri Elzéar Taschereau | Chief Justice of Canada June 4, 1906 – November 21, 1918 | Succeeded by: Louis Henry Davies |