Robert Thorpe (judge)


Robert Thorpe was a judge and political figure in Upper Canada and was later chief justice of Sierra Leone.
He was born in Dublin, Ireland around 1764. He graduated with a degree in law from Trinity College, Dublin and was admitted to the bar in 1790.

In Canada

In 1801, he was appointed the first Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island, arriving in the colony in November 1802. Because he was not getting paid on time, he sailed to England in 1804 but was captured by a French privateer. Thorpe later escaped, and was appointed a puisne judge of the Court of King's Bench in Upper Canada on 5 July 1805. On the death of his friend, William Weekes, in a duel, he was elected in a by-election to the 4th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Durham, Simcoe & 1st York.. He advocated that the executive council should be responsible to the elected representatives. He was suspended from office by the lieutenant governor Francis Gore in July 1807.

Sierra Leone

In 1808, Thorpe was appointed the first chief justice in Sierra Leone. He presided over the cases of Samuel Samo, Joseph Peters and William Tufft. While Thorpe left Sierra Leone in 1813, he continued to serve until 1815, when he was dismissed from colonial service.

Later life

In 1815 he published A Letter to William Wilberforce, Esq. M. P., Vice-President of the African Institution which was critical of the Sierra Leone Company and the African Institution which succeeded it.
He died in London in 1836.

Published works