A STUDY IN LEGAL ADMINISTRATION AND RECORDS SHARON ...

matters. As master, Taylor had acquired chancefy manuals dating from the
inception of Ontario's Equity He had also written a wmmentary on
equity jurisprudence and, in 1865, the manual General Orders of the Court of
Chancery, Wdh Notes and ~orms.~~ The latter was already in use as a guide to
practice and procedure for Manitoba's Queen's Bench in Equity and it may have
formed the basis for Wood, Dubuc, and Miller's treatise. Taylor's expertise, as
illustrated by his writings, was doubtless an important fador in his appointment
as chief justice.
Neither Taylor, Wallbridge, nor Wood could have carried out the duties of
the judiciary without the assistance of puisne judges. Indeed, during peak years
such as the earty 1880s, even four justices were hard-pressed to dispose of the
heavy burden of cases. Judges McKeagney and Bétoumay, appointed in 1872,
both served five year~.~~ While they were on the bench Queen's Bench judges
were responsible not only for the cases of that court but for those of the wunty
courts as well. That arrangement cantinued until 1882 when full-time county
court judges were appointed.
The deaths of McKeagney and Bétoumay in 1879 left a double vacancy
on the bench. Joseph Dubuc, one of the first lawyers to practise in the province,
was named to fiIl one of the positions." Like Bétoumay, Dubuc had first k en
called to the Quebec bar. During his long and distinguished career Dubuc
sewed in a nurnber of capacities, including that of chief justice, beginning in
1903.