William L. Walsh

William Legh Walsh (January 28, 1857 – January 13, 1938) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. He was the fourth lieutenant governor of Alberta from 1931 to 1936.

Walsh was born in that portion of the Province of Canada which would later become the province of Ontario. Upon attending public schools in his hometown of Simcoe, Walsh studied at the University of Toronto graduating in 1878 and then at Osgoode Hall Law School. After being called to the bar, he joined a practice in Orangeville, where he also held municipal offices as mayor and councillor. Drawn in by the Gold Rush, he then relocated to the Yukon where he established a practice with two others. Shortly after being created a king's counsel in 1903, Walsh moved south to Calgary, where he quickly established another practice. He remained in that firm for eight years, before being appointed to the Supreme Court of Alberta in 1912.

He was appointed lieutenant governor in 1931 and served in the office until 1936, when he was succeeded by his friend, Philip Primrose. He then retired to Victoria, British Columbia, where he died in 1938.

Early life, education and career

Walsh was born in 1857 at Simcoe, Canada West, to Aquila and Jane Adams Walsh (née Wilson). His father, Aquila, born in Charlotteville Township,

Walsh attended public schools in Simcoe, before he moved to Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School, where he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree. and practised law in Orangeville in the firm Maitland and McCarthy but soon left the firm for independent practice, under his own name, from 1885 to 1900. After being called to the Yukon bar in 1900, he became a partner in the firm, Tabor, Walsh, & Hulme in Dawson.

Walsh was a prominent trial lawyer, claiming several victories in several "major precedent-setting cases". The execution was carried out on May 2, 1923. Walsh was a strong believer that capital punishment was a strong deterrent to crime, sentencing 18 convicted criminals to hang, The United Farmers of Alberta caucus selected Richard Gavin Reid as their new leader, and, at Reid's request, Walsh delayed his acceptance of Brownlee's resignation to allow Reid to form a cabinet. Dr. Pirie was Superintendent of the Great Ormond Street children's hospital in England from 1914 to 1919. They had one child, Miss Margaret Walsh Pirie (Mrs. R. O. Funston). Legh Walsh enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I and served the duration of the war. At the time of his enlistment he described his occupation as law student. He became a lieutenant in the 82nd Battalion in May 1916. He was wounded at Flers–Courcelette in 1916, returned briefly to Calgary, and then sailed back to the front. After the war he returned to Calgary in April 1919 and resumed his law studies. After being called to the Law Society of Alberta in 1920, he was created a king's counsel and made secretary of the Law Society of Alberta in 1932. Bessie Walsh died after a long illness in 1925. An avid golfer, Walsh founded a seniors' golf tournament named for him that still is held presently, alternatively in Edmonton and Calgary. who gave him his own name of "Sitting Eagle (Pee'topi)" of the Blood Nation. He received an honorary doctor of laws degree and an honorary rank of colonel of the University of Alberta Contingent of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps from the University of Alberta in 1932. In 1934, he was admitted as a knight of grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. Additionally, in 1981, the City of Edmonton named Walsh Crescent, in the Westridge neighbourhood in the southwestern part of the city after the former lieutenant governor.

Death and legacy

William L. Walsh died on January 13, 1938, of heart failure following a stroke in Victoria, British Columbia. A simple service was held in Calgary at the Pro-Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, which was attended by the then Lieutenant Governor of Alberta John C. Bowen, University of Alberta President William Alexander Robb Kerr and leaders of Alberta's legal system and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was buried in Calgary's Union Cemetery. His wife, Bertha, died on August 20, 1943, and was cremated. His first wife, Bessie, who died in 1925, was buried in Simcoe.

Affectionately referred to as "Daddy Walsh", Walsh was well-liked amongst his many friends. William A. R. Kerr, president of the University of Alberta said of him, "All who knew [Walsh] … not only respected him for his gifts of mind and character but loved him as a fine warm-hearted human being." L. Ralph Sherman, an Anglican bishop of Calgary described his legacy as "a record of integrity, devotion to duty and service which will be an inspiration."