Researching John Cartwright

Born in Toronto, Cartwright was the son of James Strachan Cartwright and Jane Elizabeth Young. After graduating from Upper Canada College in 1912, he enrolled at Osgoode Hall Law School and began his articles with Smith, Rae & Greer.

He interrupted his studies in 1914 to serve overseas with the armed forces during the First World War. In 1915 he was wounded twice and for the following two years was an aide-de-camp to three successive generals. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917.

Upon his return to Canada, he resumed his study of law. He was called to the bar in 1920, then joined the firm of Smith, Rae & Greer in Toronto.

In 1947 he was counsel for the Government of Canada in the prosecutions that resulted from the findings of the Royal Commission on Spying Activities in Canada, which had been chaired by justices Robert Taschereau and Roy Kellock.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 22, 1949 and became its chief justice on September 1, 1967. He served on the Supreme Court for 20 years and retired on March 23, 1970. The following year, he accepted a position with the law firm Gowling and Henderson as counsel.

In spite of his relative youth when first elected in 1836, age 32, he was an influential member of the Compact Tory group in the Assembly. He was courted by two governors general to join the executive council of the Province of Canada, but declined each time, not willing to associate in government with the radical Reform members of the Assembly. He favoured including French-Canadians in the government of the new Province of Canada, but opposed the use of French in the Assembly and the courts.

In the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, he acted as a prosecutor in the trials of some alleged rebels, and was one of the military judges in the court martial of Nils von Schoultz, who had led an invasion force from the United States. In the trials, Cartwright worked with a rising young Kingston lawyer, John A. Macdonald, the future Prime Minister of Canada. In addition to his legal practice, he was involved in successful banking and land transactions.

Wealthy, and holding a large farming estate near Kingston, Cartwright donated land and buildings for public purposes in Kingston and neighbouring Napanee. A bon vivant, he enjoyed gambling with cards for high stakes, horse racing, and the elegancies of life, both food and good wine.

Cartwright died of tuberculosis in 1845, aged 40.

Cartwright was appointed an Official Student of Christ Church after graduation and has been a Tutor of Law since 1982. In 2004 he was appointed Reader in the Law of Contract at the University. He has been Professor of the Law of Contract since 2008.

Further, he has been Professor of Anglo-American Private Law at the University of Leiden since 2007 and is a visiting professor to the Panthéon-Assas University ('Panthéon-Assas'). He speaks French fluently and has a profound interest in French law and in the promotion of the ties between the Universities of Oxford and Paris. Cartwright flies to Europe about once a week.