William Henry Draper (judge)

Preceded byDominick Daly (acting)

Preceded byOffice established

William Henry Draper


Joint Premier of the Province of Canada
In office 12 December 1843 – 28 May 1847 Serving with Denis-Benjamin Viger (1843–1846) Denis-Benjamin Papineau (1846–1848)
Preceded by	Dominick Daly (acting)
Succeeded by	Henry Sherwood
In office 5 February 1841 – 14 September 1842 Serving with Samuel Harrison (1841–1842) Charles Richard Ogden (1842)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Robert Baldwin
Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
In office 1841–1843
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Stewart Derbishire
Constituency	Russell
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada
In office 1836–1840
Preceded by	James Edward Small
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Constituency	Toronto

Personal details
Born	(1801-03-11)March 11, 1801 London, England
Died	November 3, 1877(1877-11-03) (aged 76) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Moderate Conservative
Spouse	Mary White
Children	William George Draper Francis Collier Draper
Profession	Lawyer

William Henry Draper (March 11, 1801 – November 3, 1877) was a lawyer, judge, and politician in Upper Canada, later Canada West.

He was born near London, England, in 1801, the son of Rev. Henry Draper and Mary Louisa. He joined the East India Company at age 15 and made at least two voyages to India.

In 1820, he settled in Port Hope, Upper Canada. Draper married Augusta "Mary" White in York, Upper Canada, in 1826^[1] with whom he had several children, including William George Draper and Francis Collier Draper, both of whom were well-known lawyers; the latter also served as chief of police in Toronto.

He died in Yorkville (now part of Toronto) in 1877.

Legal career

In 1822, he started to study law under Thomas Ward in Port Hope. He then moved to Cobourg and finished his articles in the office of George Strange Boulton. In 1828, Draper was called to the bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada. In 1829, he secured a position in the office of John Beverley Robinson and then partnered with Solicitor General Christopher Alexander Hagerman.

Political career

He was elected to the 13th Parliament of Upper Canada and represented Toronto in 1836. Later that year, he was appointed to the Executive Council and the following year became solicitor general. Draper handled many of the prosecutions following the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

By 1839, he had broken with his Family Compact friends and set his political goal: "To found a party on a larger basis than ever had been formed before." In 1840, he became attorney general for Upper Canada. Draper supported the union of Upper and Lower Canada on economic grounds and also believed that because the British government favoured the union, it would be better to participate in the process than to criticize it from the sidelines. He was elected to the 1st Parliament of the United Canadas as a moderate conservative and continued as attorney general for Canada West, a member of the Executive Council, and a co-leader of the government in the Assembly along with the moderate liberal Samuel Harrison. Although his first attempts to establish a conservative alliance with French Canadians failed, Draper played an important role in enabling Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine to take office in 1842, even at the cost of resigning himself and of seeing Robert Baldwin succeed him as attorney general for Canada West.

Draper resumed leading the government 13 December 1843 jointly with Denis-Benjamin Viger. At the next election, in 1844, the supporters of Draper, Viger and Governor Charles Metcalfe, including the young John A. Macdonald, won a majority. He continued as government leader until 1847. During this period, legislation was passed dealing with schools in both Canada East and Canada West, but Draper's attempt to establish a University of Upper Canada failed. Draper helped Macdonald gain recognition by naming him to a cabinet post.

In 1847, with the arrival of Lord Elgin, Draper resigned from the position of attorney general and became a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench. In 1856, he became chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Upper Canada, and in 1869, he became chief justice of the Court of Error and Appeal in Ontario.

Political offices
Preceded by Samuel Harrison	Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada 1841–1842	Succeeded by William Henry Draper as Joint Premiers of the Provinces of Canada
Preceded by Sir William Henry Draper as Prime Minister of the Provinces of Canada	Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada - Canada West 1842	Succeeded by Robert Baldwin
Preceded by Robert Baldwin	Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada - Canada West 1843–1847	Succeeded by Henry Sherwood
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir John Beverley Robinson, 1st Baronet 1829–1862	Chief Justice of Canada West 1862–1867	Succeeded by Chief Justice of Ontario

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v t e Attorneys-general of Ontario
Upper Canada	White Gray Scott Firth Robinson (acting) G. D. Boulton Robinson H. J. Boulton Jameson Hagerman Draper
Province of Canada (Canada West)	Draper Baldwin Richards J. A. Macdonald J. S. Macdonald
Ontario	J. S. Macdonald Crooks Mowat Hardy Latchford Whitney Foy Lucas Raney Nickle Price Roebuck Conant Cross Blackwell Porter Roberts Cass Wishart Lawrence Bales Welch Clement McMurtry Pope Scott Hampton Boyd Harnick Flaherty Young Sterling Bryant Bentley Gerretsen Meilleur Naqvi Mulroney Downey

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William Henry Draper (judge)

Legal career

Political career

References

External links

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