Charles Dow Richards | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Charles Dow Richards

Charles Dow Richards, lawyer, politician, premier of NB 1931-33 (b at Southampton, York County, NB 12 June 1879; d at Fredericton 15 Sept 1956). Initially a schoolteacher, Richards was admitted to the bar at age 33.

Richards, Charles Dow

Charles Dow Richards, lawyer, politician, premier of NB 1931-33 (b at Southampton, York County, NB 12 June 1879; d at Fredericton 15 Sept 1956). Initially a schoolteacher, Richards was admitted to the bar at age 33. Before becoming premier and attorney general in 1931 he was Conservative house leader in the provincial Assembly and then minister of lands and mines under J.B.M. Baxter. His 2-year administration, in the depths of the Great Depression, instituted public bidding on crown land and fishing rights. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1933 and was chief justice from 1948 to 1955. He is best remembered not so much as a politician but as a dignified, scholarly lawyer and distinguished judge.