Louis Henry Davies

Sir Louis Henry Davies PC KCMG (May 4, 1845 – May 1, 1924) was a Canadian businessman, politician, lawyer, and judge from the province of Prince Edward Island. In a public career spanning six decades, he served as the third premier of Prince Edward Island, a federal Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister, and as both a Puisne Justice and the sixth Chief Justice of Canada.

Born in Charlottetown to Liberal political Benjamin Davies, Davies was trained as a lawyer in London where he was called to the bar in 1866. He returned home the following year and began a career that quickly blended law and politics. Elected to the Island's legislature in 1872, he rose to lead the Liberal Party and in 1876 became premier, forming a coalition government that enacted the Public Schools Act of 1877, creating a non-sectarian public school system. His legal career was prominent, he served as counsel for the Prince Edward Island Land Commission, successfully argued in the Supreme Court of Canada's first decision Kelly v Sulivan, and later represented Canada at the Halifax Fisheries Commission, which secured a major award against the United States. After entering federal politics in 1882, he sat as a Liberal MP and became Wilfrid Laurier's minister of marine and fisheries.

Davies was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1901 and elevated to Chief Justice in 1918. His appointment was controversial, with critics noting his limited legal practice before politics, the patronage nature of his appointment by Wilfrid Laurier, and his continued private political involvement from the bench. His tenure as Chief Justice coincided with what historians have called the Court's "sterile years," marked by disunity and limited jurisprudential influence. In failing health, he remained in office until his death in 1924, after which Francis Alexander Anglin succeeded him as Chief Justice.