John Sprott Archibald

Archibald articled under John A. Perkins and was called to the bar of Quebec on January 18, 1871.^[4][3] He practised alone and in partnership with lawyers including W. W. Lynch, who was Quebec's solicitor general; and George G. Foster.^[4] Archibald was named a queen's counsel in 1887. He was appointed as a lecturer in criminal law at McGill in 1871 and was named a professor in 1880.^[3][2] He later became a professor of criminal law, which position he retained until he became a governor of the university in 1894.^[3] He also taught constitutional law at McGill.^[4]

He was an alderman of Montreal from 1884 until 1890.^[3] He was also appointed a revising officer under the Electoral Franchise Act,^[2] which office he retained until the statute was repealed.^[3] He represented the government of Canada before the royal commission appointed to investigate corruption charges alleging that Adolphe-Philippe Caron had funnelled subsidies into Conservative Party coffers.^[5][3][6]

He was appointed a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec on November 22, 1893.^[2] He delivered judgments in cases including Johnson v Sparrow  [fr], in which he awarded damages in favour of a Black couple that was prevented from sitting in the audience at the Montreal Academy of Music;^[7] and Delpit v Côté.^[2] He retired from the superior court on October 7, 1922.^[1]

He married Ellen Hutchinson of Bluevale, Ontario, on July 13, 1871.^[4] They had five children.^[3] Archibald died on January 16, 1932, in Montreal.^[8]