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5. Law and Ideology: The Toronto Police Court 1850-80

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Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume II
This chapter is in the book Essays in the History of Canadian Law, Volume II
Law and Ideology:The Toronto Police Court1850-80PAUL CRAVENOut of an interest in the history of labour law, I began some time ago toinvestigate the Ontario Master and Servant Act of 1847.1 completed whatwas essentially a statutory history of that act and an interpretation of itspolicy, and then turned to examine its administration by the TorontoPolice Court, a tribunal that had both a large caseload and an extensivegroup of surviving records.1 Part of this research involved looking in thelocal newspapers for accounts of master and servant cases, and it quicklybecame apparent that the Toronto press devoted a great deal of space tocoverage of the city police court.This reportage is interesting for a number of reasons. First is its extent: aregular Police Court column appeared in The Globe and The Leader practi-cally every day, and while it was often quite short this was by no meansalways true, particularly in the i86os and 18705. Second, the reportersgive detailed information about a substantial proportion of the casesheard by the court, which forms a very useful supplement to the quantita-tively exhaustive but qualitatively skeletal information provided by thecourt's formal records. But it is two other aspects of the press coveragethat really led to the writing of this essay.Quite apart from the cases themselves, the reporters have a great deal tosay about the court's ambience: they comment on its physical surround-ings, the peculiarities of the presiding magistrate and other functionaries,the spectators, and the judicial process. In this, reports of the police courtdiffer enormously from the press treatment of tribunals like the assizes or5
© 2015 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

Law and Ideology:The Toronto Police Court1850-80PAUL CRAVENOut of an interest in the history of labour law, I began some time ago toinvestigate the Ontario Master and Servant Act of 1847.1 completed whatwas essentially a statutory history of that act and an interpretation of itspolicy, and then turned to examine its administration by the TorontoPolice Court, a tribunal that had both a large caseload and an extensivegroup of surviving records.1 Part of this research involved looking in thelocal newspapers for accounts of master and servant cases, and it quicklybecame apparent that the Toronto press devoted a great deal of space tocoverage of the city police court.This reportage is interesting for a number of reasons. First is its extent: aregular Police Court column appeared in The Globe and The Leader practi-cally every day, and while it was often quite short this was by no meansalways true, particularly in the i86os and 18705. Second, the reportersgive detailed information about a substantial proportion of the casesheard by the court, which forms a very useful supplement to the quantita-tively exhaustive but qualitatively skeletal information provided by thecourt's formal records. But it is two other aspects of the press coveragethat really led to the writing of this essay.Quite apart from the cases themselves, the reporters have a great deal tosay about the court's ambience: they comment on its physical surround-ings, the peculiarities of the presiding magistrate and other functionaries,the spectators, and the judicial process. In this, reports of the police courtdiffer enormously from the press treatment of tribunals like the assizes or5
© 2015 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword. THE OSGOODE SOCIETY vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Contributors xiii
  6. 1. Instruments of Commerce and Authority: The Civil Courts in Upper Canada 1789-1812 1
  7. 2. Legal Education in Upper Canada 1785-1889: The Law Society as Educator 49
  8. 3. The Ten Thousand Pound Job': Political Corruption, Equitable Jurisdiction, and the Public Interest in Upper Canada 1852-6 143
  9. 4. Nineteenth-Century Canadian Rape Law 1800-92 200
  10. 5. Law and Ideology: The Toronto Police Court 1850-80 248
  11. 6. The Kamloops Outlaws and Commissions of Assize in Nineteenth-Century British Columbia 308
  12. 7. Private Rights and Public Purposes in the Lakes, Rivers, and Streams of Ontario 1870-1930 365
  13. 8. This Nuisance of Litigation': The Origins of Workers' Compensation in Ontario 418
  14. 9. The Evolution of the Ontario Courts 1788-1981 492
  15. Table of Cases 573
  16. Index 575
  17. Backmatter 595
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https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442662919-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword. THE OSGOODE SOCIETY vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Contributors xiii
  6. 1. Instruments of Commerce and Authority: The Civil Courts in Upper Canada 1789-1812 1
  7. 2. Legal Education in Upper Canada 1785-1889: The Law Society as Educator 49
  8. 3. The Ten Thousand Pound Job': Political Corruption, Equitable Jurisdiction, and the Public Interest in Upper Canada 1852-6 143
  9. 4. Nineteenth-Century Canadian Rape Law 1800-92 200
  10. 5. Law and Ideology: The Toronto Police Court 1850-80 248
  11. 6. The Kamloops Outlaws and Commissions of Assize in Nineteenth-Century British Columbia 308
  12. 7. Private Rights and Public Purposes in the Lakes, Rivers, and Streams of Ontario 1870-1930 365
  13. 8. This Nuisance of Litigation': The Origins of Workers' Compensation in Ontario 418
  14. 9. The Evolution of the Ontario Courts 1788-1981 492
  15. Table of Cases 573
  16. Index 575
  17. Backmatter 595
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