Archibald McLean (judge)

Chief Justice The Hon. Archibald McLean (April 5, 1791 – October 24, 1865) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.

McLean was born at St. Andrews in the Lunenburg District in 1791, the son of Lt.-Col. The Hon. Neil McLean and Isabella McDonell of Leek. He studied at John Strachan's school in Cornwall and articled in law with William Firth.

On the outbreak of the War of 1812 he joined the 2nd Regiment of York Militia as a Subaltern and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights. He was carried from the battlefield to a nearby village by John Cawthra where his wounds were hurriedly dressed. Because of an infection caused by the late removal of a bullet he was not fit to fight when the Americans attacked York in April, 1813. McLean buried the York militia’s colours in the woods and escaped to Kingston, Ontario. He fought again at Battle of Lundy's Lane, but was captured by the Americans and held prisoner for the remainder of the war.

In 1815 he turned down a commission into the British regular army, joining the law firm of William Warren Baldwin before starting his own lucrative law firm in Cornwall, Ontario. In 1820, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Stormont; he held that seat until 1834, shared for the previous four years with his old school friend Philip VanKoughnet. He was then elected to represent Cornwall and became Speaker of the Assembly in 1836. He was a leading Tory member and advocated the rights of the Presbyterian Church to be equal to those of the Church of England.

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