R. A. E. Greenshields

Robert Alfred Ernest Greenshields (February 2 1861-September 28, 1942) K.C., D.C.L., was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec; Dean of the Faculty of Law at McGill University and 9th Chancellor of Bishop's University.

Greenshields was born at Danville, Quebec, the youngest son of Scottish-born parents John Greenshields (1823-1901), farmer and mill owner of Danville, and Margaret Naismith. The Geenshields' were distant cousins of the prominent Montreal mercantile family of the same name.

Educated at Danville Academy, he graduated from in Arts from McGill University, 1883, and in Civil Law in 1885. One of his first court cases was the trial of Louis Riel, as defence counsel. Greenshields established a legal practice in Montreal with his elder brother, James Naismith Greenshields (1853-1937) K.C. He was created a Queen's Counsel in 1899. In 1910, he was appointed Judge of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, becoming Chief Justice in 1929. At McGill, Greenshields became Associate Professor of Criminal Law in 1915, and full Professor in 1920. From 1923 until 1927 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, and retired in 1929 as Emeritus Professor. In 1932, he succeeded Frederick Edmund Meredith as Chancellor of Bishop's University, a position he held until his death in 1942.

In 1890, he married Maude Adelaide Gooderham (1868-1952), daughter of Robert Turner Gooderham (1841-1913), of Toronto. They lived in Montreal's Golden Square Mile at 3465 Simpson Street and kept a summer property at St. Andrews, New Brunswick. They were the parents of one daughter. After Greenshields' death, his wife endowed the Chief Justice R.A.E. Greenshields Memorial Scholarship for law students at McGill University.