The Honourable Edmund Leslie Newcombe

Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada from September 16, 1924 until December 9, 1931.

Edmund Leslie Newcombe was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, on February 17, 1859. He was the son of John Cumming Newcombe and Abigail H. Calkin. He received his B.A. in 1878 and M.A. in 1881 from Dalhousie University, and his LL.B. in 1881 from the short-lived University of Halifax. Called to the bar of Nova Scotia the following year, he practised law in Kentville until 1886, when he moved to Halifax to establish the law firm of Meagher, Drysdale & Newcombe. He was also appointed Lecturer on Marine Insurance Law at Dalhousie University in 1892. In 1893 he moved to Ottawa to become Deputy Minister of Justice and was called to the bar of Ontario. He was Deputy Minister for over 30 years and frequently pleaded before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England. In 1914 he acted as counsel for the Government of Canada in the public inquiry into the sinking of the S.S. Empress of Ireland. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on September 16, 1924 and served on the Court for seven years. Justice Newcombe died on December 9, 1931, at the age of 72.