George Burbidge

George Wheelock Burbidge (6 February 1847 – 18 February 1908) was a Canadian lawyer, judge and author. After being admitted to the New Brunswick Bar in 1872, he became a partner in a Saint John, New Brunswick law firm. He is noted for having conducted the prosecution of Louis Riel during his trial for treason following the North-West Rebellion of 1885. He subsequently had a distinguished career as a jurist, becoming on 1 October 1887 the first justice of the Exchequer Court, the predecessor to the modern Federal Court of Canada. His 1890 book, A digest of criminal law of Canada, heavily influenced the groundbreaking Criminal Code of Canada of 1892.