Allen Bristol Aylesworth

Who was Allen Bristol Aylesworth?

Sir Allen Bristol Aylesworth, PC, KCMG was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian.

Born in Newburgh, Ontario of United Empire Loyalist ancestry, Aylesworth was educated at the University of Toronto, and called to the Ontario Bar in 1878. As the Canadian member of the Alaska Boundary Tribunal in 1903, he presented his country’s views in a minority report. Elected to the Dominion parliament in 1905, he served in the cabinet of Sir Wilfrid Laurier as postmaster-general and minister of labour, 1905–1906, and minister of justice, 1906–1911, in which capacity he oversaw the pardon of Angelina Napolitano, Canada’s first battered woman defence case. He acted as British representative at the North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration in The Hague, 1910–1911, and was knighted for his services.

A Liberal, Aylesworth was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a by-election on 22 November 1905 and re-elected in the 1908 as the Member of Parliament for the riding of York North in the province of Ontario.