Matthew Baillie Begbie

Sir
Matthew Baillie Begbie
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia
In office
1871–1894
Nominated byJohn A. Macdonald
Appointed byThe Lord Lisgar
Preceded byhimself as Chief Justice of the Colony of BC
Succeeded byTheodore Davie
Chief Justice of the Colony of British Columbia
In office
1869–1871
Appointed byJames Douglas
Personal details
Born9 May 1819
DiedJune 11, 1894(1894-06-11) (aged 75)
Education
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Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (9 May 1819 – 11 June 1894) was a British lawyer, politician, and judge. In 1858, Begbie became the first Chief Justice of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in colonial times and in the first decades after British Columbia joined Confederation as a province of Canada.

Begbie served as the first Judge of the Supreme Court, Colony of British Columbia 1858 to 1866 and then, in the same capacity in the Supreme Court, the united Colony of British Columbia from 1866 to 1870. He was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Colonies from 1870 to 1871 and then served as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the new Province of British Columbia from 1871 until his death on June 11, 1894.

In the years after his death, Begbie came to be known as the Hanging Judge.