Thibaudeau Rinfret

Thibaudeau Rinfret, PC (June 22, 1879 – July 25, 1962) was a Canadian jurist and the ninth Chief Justice of Canada and acting Governor General of Canada in 1952.

Personal life

Rinfret studied law at Université Laval and McGill University and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1901. He was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court in 1922 and to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1924.

Rinfret was son of François-Olivier Rinfret and Albina Pominville. He was the brother of Fernand Rinfret, Liberal politician and Montreal Mayor, and brother to Charles Rinfret, a prominent Montreal businessman.

In May 1933, his brother Charles died in an apparent suicide by jumping off a bridge in front of a passing train.[1]

Professional career

Rinfret became Chief Justice on January 8, 1944, and served until his retirement on June 22, 1954. During his term as Chief Justice, Canada ended appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council making the Supreme Court of Canada the final court of appeal in Canadian jurisprudence.

Rinfret was acting Governor General (or Administrator of the Government) in 1952 after the departure of Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis and until Vincent Massey could officially take his vice-regal post; during this time he proclaimed Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada, following the death of King George VI.

External links

• Supreme Court Biography
• Thibaudeau Rinfret at Find a Grave