James Wilfred Estey

Who was James Wilfred Estey?

James Wilfred Estey was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and jurist.

Born in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, the son of Byron Leslie Estey and Sarah Ann Kee, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Brunswick in 1910. In 1915, he received a Bachelor of Law from Harvard University in 1915. On 1917, he was called to the Saskatchewan bar, evetually founding the law firm Estey, Moxon, Schmitt & McDonald. He practised law as a Crown Prosecutor until 1929 in Saskatoon. He also taught law and economics at the University of Saskatchewan.

In 1934, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as a Liberal. From 1934 to 1941, he was the Minister of Education. From 1939 to 1944, he was the Attorney General.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on October 6, 1944 and served until his death in 1956. He was the second Saskatchewan judge of the Supreme Court and succeeded Sir Lyman Poore Duff as a western representative on the Court.

He is the father of Willard Estey, also a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was a Baptist and a teetotaller.