Osgoode Society Books
Our books are listed here chronologically by date of publication. Use the Search function to the right to find a particular book, or author.
Ontario
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John J. Robinette, Peerless Mentor: An Appreciation
by George D. Finlayson, formerly of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Published with Dundurn Press, 2003. John Robinette is generally acknowledged to have been the foremost counsel of his era and was, perhaps, Canada’s greatest advocate of all time. Comfortable before any court or tribunal at any level and regardless of issue, he combined… Read more »
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The Conventional Man: The Diaries of Ontario Chief Justice Robert A. Harrison, 1856-1878
edited with an introduction by Peter N. Oliver, Professor of History, York University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2003. Between 1856 and 1878, the year of his death, Robert A. Harrison, a Toronto lawyer, often described as the outstanding common law lawyer of his generation in Canada and Chief Justice of Ontario in the… Read more »
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Colonial Justice: Justice, Morality and Crime in the Niagara District, 1791-1849
by David Murray, Department of History, University of Guelph. Published with University of Toronto Press, 2002. As a colony, Upper Canada was obliged to adopt the essential elements of the British legal system. But just how did a system designed for a much more sophisticated society function in the wilds of early Canada? Focussing on the border… Read more »
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Renegade Lawyer: The Life of J.L. Cohen
by Laurel Sefton Macdowell, Professor of History, University of Toronto. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2001. J.L. Cohen, one of the first specialists in labour law and an architect of the Canadian industrial relations system, was a formidable advocate in the 1930s and 1940s on behalf of working people. Cohen is best described as… Read more »
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Unforeseen Legacies, Reuben Wells Leonard and the Leonard Foundation Trust
by Bruce Ziff, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 2000. With great skill and diligence, Professor Ziff has taken hold of an apparently narrow topic and has used it to open up a wide window into some fascinating and neglected themes of the Canadian past. His subject is… Read more »
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The Spinster and the Prophet: Florence Deeks, H.G.Wells, and the Mystery of the Purloined Past
by A.B. McKillop, Professor of History, Carleton University. Published with Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, 2000. One of Canada’s pre-eminent historians, A.B. McKillop has restored to life a unique tale of heroism and intrigue, obsession and betrayal. The novelist and social prophet H.G. Wells had a way with words, and usually had his way with women. That is,… Read more »
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Fulfilment: Memoirs of a Criminal Court Judge
by David Vanek. Published with Dundurn Press, 1999. We are very grateful to Judge David Vanek for offering us the opportunity to publish his memoirs. In Ontario provincial court judges are the workhorses of the judiciary, carrying out a huge range of tasks and bearing an enormous burden. Most students of Canadian legal history are familiar… Read more »
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‘Terror to Evil-Doers’: Prisons and Punishments in Nineteenth-Century Ontario
by Peter Oliver, Professor of History, York University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1998. We are delighted that Peter Oliver has agreed to include his seminal work on prisons and punishments in nineteenth century Ontario in the Osgoode Society’s Publications Series. Professor Oliver’s book draws on a huge range of previously unexplored primary sources… Read more »
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Married Women and Property Law in Victorian Ontario
by Lori Chambers, Professor, Department of History and Women’s Studies, Lakehead University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1997. Married Women and Property Law in Victorian Ontario, by Professor Lori Chambers, Lakehead University, is a fascinating account of gender relationships in nineteenth-century Ontario as revealed through a series of laws which reflected Victorian attitudes to… Read more »
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Bad Judgment: The Case of Mr. Justice Leo A. Landreville
by William Kaplan. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1996. Out of Print. Bad Judgment is a quintessential fall-from-grace story about a man from humble beginnings who rose to the top of the legal profession in Canada, only to be removed from the bench because of his bad judgment, the intolerant attitudes of the… Read more »