Bertha Wilson
| Bertha Wilson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada | |
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In office March 4, 1982 – January 4, 1991 |
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| Nominated by | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Ronald Martland |
| Succeeded by | Frank Iacobucci |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Bertha Wernham September 18, 1923 Kirkcaldy, Scotland, U.K. |
| Died | April 28, 2007 (aged 83) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Spouse(s) | John Wilson (m. 1945) |
| Alma mater | Dalhousie Law School |
Bertha Wrenham Wilson CC FRSC (September 18, 1923 – April 28, 2007) was a Canadian jurist and the first female Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Before her ascension to Canada's highest court, Wilson was also the first female associate and partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and the first woman appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, the daughter of Archibald Wernham and Christina Noble, she received a Master of Arts degree in philosophy from University of Aberdeen in 1944. In 1949, Wilson emigrated to Canada with her husband John Wilson, whom she had married in 1945. They settled in Renfrew, Ontario where her husband became the United Church minister. Three years later, in 1952, her husband became a naval chaplain during the Korean War and she worked as a dental receptionist in Ottawa. In 1954, her husband was posted to Halifax, Nova Scotia and they both moved.
Wilson received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University, where she finished in the top ten of her class in all three years. She applied for and was accepted into a Master of Laws program at Harvard Law School, but chose not to attend. She was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1957.
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