Francis Alexander Anglin was a prominent Canadian lawyer and jurist who served as the seventh Chief Justice of Canada from 1924 until 1933. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, to a politically active family—his father, Timothy Anglin, was a Speaker of the House of Commons—Anglin pursued a career in law after graduating from the College of Ottawa. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1888 and established a successful legal practice in Toronto before embarking on a distinguished judicial career.\n\nAnglin's judicial ascent began with his appointment to the Ontario High Court of Justice in 1904, followed by his elevation to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1909. In 1924, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King appointed him Chief Justice. Throughout his tenure, Anglin was noted for his advocacy of a strong federal government, often favoring an expansive interpretation of federal authority in constitutional matters. This stance frequently put him at odds with the prevailing jurisprudence of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.\n\nHis legacy is heavily defined by his involvement in the landmark "Persons case" (Edwards v. Canada), in which he authored the Supreme Court's decision ruling that women were not "persons" under the British North America Act, 1867, and were therefore ineligible for appointment to the Senate. Though this decision was subsequently overturned by the Privy Council, it remains one of the most heavily scrutinized and criticized judgments in Canadian legal history. Anglin retired due to failing health in 1933 and passed away just three days later.
