Campbell Family tenure
Sir William Campbell was born in Caithness, Scotland in 1758 to a landowning member of Clan Diarmid. He fought on the British side of the American Revolution, serving under General Cornwallis in the 76th Foot. He was taken prisoner at the siege of Yorktown in 1781, and was held until the end of the war.
In 1784 Campbell made his way to Nova Scotia with a group of Loyalist refugees, where he began to study law. By 1785 he was practising as an attorney. He rapidly rose in Nova Scotian society, winning one of two seats for Sydney County in the House of Assembly in 1799. During this time he was also the Solicitor General of Cape Breton and a superintendent of the colony’s coal mines. Through inexperience, Campbell almost bankrupted the mines by 1804. After a protracted legal and political battle, Campbell was dismissed from his position with the mining company in 1808.
Campbell came to York in 1811 to fill a judicial position left empty by Robert Thorpe’s removal in 1807. Between 1812 and his last round of assizes in 1827, Campbell presided over 382 criminal cases. On 17 October 1825 Campbell replaced William Dummer Powell as the 6th Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Campbell received a knighthood in April 1829, the same year he retired.
The Campbells were one of the most notable families of early York, and their home was the site of frequent entertaining. Sir William Campbell died in 1834, but his wife Hannah lived in the house until 1844.
Sources:
- Biographical Information – Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Sir William Campbell (http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=2789)
- William Campbell, Portrait – Bibliothéque et Archives nationales du Québec – P560, S2, D1, P725