Lamont, John Henderson (1865- 1936)

John Lamont.

Saskatchewan Archives Board R-B3204

John Lamont was born on November 12, 1865, and grew up in Dufferin County, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1892 and a LLB from Osgoode Hall a year later. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1893. He practiced law in Toronto for six years before moving to Prince Albert, where he founded a law practice with W.F.A. Turgeon. In 1902, he became a Crown Prosecutor. In 1904, Lamont was elected to the House of Commons and formed a friendship with fellow Liberal member Walter Scott. Lamont resigned his seat in 1905 to run for the new Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. He was the province's first Attorney General in a small Cabinet of four (with Walter Scott, J.H. Motherwell and J.A. Calder). Lamont resigned from Saskatchewan politics after two years to receive an appointment to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. Lamont served on the Court of Appeal for nearly twenty years before being appointed to the Supreme Court on April 2, 1927, where he served for eight years. Lamont was appointed to the Royal Commission to investigate charges of corruption by the Scott government. Frederick Haultain chaired the commission, with Judge Newlands and Lamont as members. The Haultain Commission was one of three commissions established to investigate the Scott government. Even though Scott and his Cabinet were cleared of these accusations, several public servants and MLAs were found guilty of corruption and punished. Lamont died on March 10, 1936.

Gordon Barnhart