Open Collections

[not before 1840?]

1 bookplate : intaglio printing ; 5.8 x 7.3 cm

Toronto (Ont.)

Prints

image/jpeg

John Hawkins Hagarty was born on December 17, 1816 in Dublin, Ireland. Hagarty studied at a private school in Dublin, where he was taught by Rev. Mr. Haddart. At 16, Hagarty went to Trinity College, but migrated to Canada in 1834 instead of completing his degree. He went to Toronto several months after the city’s incorporation in March 1934. Hagarty studied law at the office of George Duggan and was called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1840. In 1847, Hagarty became an Alderman of Toronto. He then formed a partnership with John Crawford as Crawford & Hagarty. Their partnership only ended when Hagarty retired and took a seat on the Judicial Bench. In 1850, Hagarty became a Queen’s Counsel and frequently represented the Crown in both civil and criminal cases. Hagarty became a Puisné Judge of the Court of Common Pleas on February 5, 1856. He was transferred to the Court of the Queen’s Bench on March 18, 1862. Afterwards, Hagarty was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas on November 12, 1868. After the death of Chief Justice Harrison, Hagarty became the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench for Ontario. As a judge, Hagarty made rulings that influenced Underground Railroad passengers. He circumvented international law that required the return of fugitive slaves to the United States in his ruling on the John Anderson case. Hagarty was an important member of literary society in Toronto and contributed some poems to "Maple Leaf’ in 1847. He also wrote for newspapers and published the pamphlet "Thoughts on Law Reform" in Toronto. He is suspected of writing under the nom-de-plume "Zadig" Hagarty was the President of the Canadian Institute in 1862. He was also involved with the St. Patrick’s Society, where he became President in 1846. Hagarty was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1887. Hagarty died in 1888.
References:
1) Dent, J. C. (1881). The Canadian Portrait Gallery (Vol. 4). Toronto: John B. Magurn. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=xwUz06iWtF4C&pg=PA9-IA7&dq=John+Hawkins+Hagarty&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGmcKujcPTAhVI32MKHZ-7Ao4Q6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=John%20Hawkins%20Hagarty&f=false
2) Snodgrass, M. E. (2015). Hagarty, Sir John Hawkins (1816-1888). In The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations (Vol. 1-2, p. 240). New York: Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?id=RmqsBwAAQBAJ&dq=John+Hawkins+Hagarty

RBSC Bookplates

2017-04-27

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