TRIAL
DIVISION > History of the
Court - St. John's
The first permanent Courthouse in St. John’s
opened in September, 1730. It housed a wooden jail and
Courthouse. It remained as such for 100 years and was situate at
309 Duckworth Street, St. John’s, on approximately the same site
as the present Courthouse.
In 1831, Governor Thomas Cochrane arranged for the building of a
new Courthouse and jail on the same site where Osborner’s
hostelry for the miscreants stood. That second St. John’s
Courthouse, with its custodial accommodations, was a wooden
structure, two storeys in height.
In 1846, this Courthouse was destroyed by fire. In 1847,
construction began on a three-storey market house on the
burned-out site.
The 1847 market house and Courthouse were destroyed by fire on
July 8, 1892, along with three-quarters of St. John’s. As a
result, Supreme Court sittings were held in the Colonial
Building between sessions of the Legislature from 1892 to 1894.
These arrangements were not convenient and during 1892-1893,
Superintendent of Public Buildings, John T. Neville, prepared
plans for a temporary wooden Courthouse which would eventually
become the Star of the Sea Hall on Henry Street. Although the
structure was built for the Star of the Sea Association, the
Government rented the premises until May, 1904.
It was decided by the government of the day during the Summer of
1899 to create plans for a new Courthouse in St. John’s at an
estimated cost of $100,000.00.
Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the Duke of York, who
would late become King George V, would visit St. John’s
whereupon arrangements were made to have him participate in a
cornerstone ceremony for the Courthouse. A 14k gold trowel was
made by P. W, Ellis & Company of Toronto for the occasion. The
cornerstone was laid by His Royal Highness on October 24, 1901.
Construction of the new Courthouse continued
throughout 1902 and 1903. The clock, with its four faces, was
installed by clockmaker, J. Roper, and set in operation about
the middle of August, 1903, by St. John’s Mayor George Shea. The
building was officially opened May 2, 1904, at exactly noon when
Chief Justice Sir William Horwood, together with Justices George
Henry Emerson and George MacNess Johnson took their places on
the bench.
At that time, the completed building was not used exclusively by
the courts. It contained one Supreme Courtroom, namely Courtroom
No. 1, a Police Court - subsequently known as the Magistrate’s
Court (which is now Courtroom No. 4), Court Chambers, a Law
Library, Judges’ Apartments (now designated as Judges’
Chambers), police offices and accommodations for court staff.
In addition to the courtrooms and other court related
accommodations, the building was occupied by the Prime Minister,
the Colonial Secretary and Cabinet. In 1934, the former
Executive Council Chamber (i.e. the Cabinet Room) situate on the
second floor was converted into what is now No. 2 Supreme
Courtroom. During the term of Commission of Government, several
floors in this building were occupied by Government departments,
which occupancy continued until the opening of Confederation
Building in 1960.
A large area of the floor immediately below Courtroom No. 1 was
occupied by the Department of Public Works which at that time
included a Highways Division. The entire division of Highways
was on the top floor of this building while the area now
occupied by the Registry of the Supreme Court which is on the
bottom floor was also a part of the Department of Public Works.
The floor above Courtroom No. 1 housed the
Registry of Deeds, Companies and Securities which consisted of a
very small room and a vault. The Registry of Deeds, Companies
and Securities moved to Confederation Building in 1960 and now
occupies an entire wing of the bottom floor of that Building.
Today the Courthouse is used exclusively by the Trial Division
of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, except for a
portion of it in its basement area which houses the City Lockup.
The High Sheriff originally occupied what is now a Judges’
Chambers on the southeast corner of the building on the third
floor. His office was subsequently moved to the fourth floor of
the building but as the Court continued to expand, the High
Sheriff and his staff were obliged to move out and now have
offices situate at 319 Duckworth Street, three doors to the west
of the Courthouse on Duckworth Street.
This historic Courthouse has been the scene of many great trials
since it opened nearly a century ago.
On June 18, 1988, the Courthouse was declared a national
historic site. A plaque was unveiled at the time commemorating
its national historic and architectural significance. The
building has been declared to be of historic significance by the
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
In 1989, all of the stone was cleaned and joists repaired with
the result that this historic temple of Newfoundland and
Labrador justice continues to rank as one of Canada’s most
beautiful Courthouses and one of St. John’s most impressive
landmarks.
[As extracted and precised by the Registrar from the text of a
speech given by former Chief Justice Hickman to the Newfoundland
Historic Society on February 26, 1998.]
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