Joseph Andrew Chisholm

Born in St. Andrews, Nova Scotia to William and Flora Chisholm, Chisholm was educated at St. Francis Xavier University before moving to Halifax in 1896.[1]

He attended Dalhousie University, where he received his law degree and his first job was in a law firm headed by a man destined to be a future Canadian Prime Minister, Robert Borden.

Chisholm was elected as Mayor of Halifax from 1909 to 1912.[1] In 1916, Borden appointed him to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, being the first Dalhousie graduate to be so named. He was appointed chief justice in 1931.[2]

Chisholm also wrote historical articles about past Nova Scotia justices and contributed to the Catholic Encyclopedia. In 1909, he edited a revised edition of The Speeches and Public Letters of Joseph Howe.[1]

In 1935, he became the last Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice to be knighted.[2]

Joseph Andrew Chisholm was married to Frances Affleck, sister of Annie Affleck, wife of Sir John S. Thompson, in 1891. She died in 1903.[1][2]

Chisholm died on January 22, 1950, in Halifax.[2]

• The MacMillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Toronto, Macmillan, 1973, p. 136.