A justice system matures.

In 1886, the Canadian government amended the North-West Territories Act to abolish the District Courts and create the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories effective February 1887. Stipendiary magistrates were now referred to as judges, and the number of judges serving the court was gradually increased. The clerks of the court also registered legal agreements such as mortgages, partnerships and bankruptcies. This court structure continued until 1906, when the new Province of Alberta created its own provincial court system.

From the Archives

Cover of Judge J.F. Macleod’s 1891-1892 notebook.

Members of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories, 1893. On the bench, left to right: Hon. Edward L. Wetmore; Hon. Lt. Col. James F. Macleod; Hon. Lt. Col. Hugh Richardson; Hon. Justice Charles B. Rouleau; Hon. Justice Thomas H. McGuire. Officers of the Courts, standing: left, Sheriff James H. Benson; right, Dixie Watson, Clerk.