A STUDY IN LEGAL ADMINISTRATION AND RECORDS SHARON ...

assist justices of the peace, the repoRs detailed the reasonings for two cases,
conducted in chambers, by Chief Justice Wood. The volume included an
introduction by Carey and came to be known as Carey's ~eporfs.~~ In 7 878
Carey left the prothonotary's position and went into successful private practiœ.
Allan Macdonald followed Carey with a three-year term in the
prothonotary's post. Macdonald's successor was Geoffrey H. Walker who, in
1881, took the position which he was to occupy for nearly fifty yearsg' Originally
frorn Ontario, Walker began his training as a law clerk in the Winnipeg office of
his father, D.M. Walker.g2 He practised briefly in rural Manitoba before being
named prothonotary. It was during Walker's tenure that court business
increased dramaticall y. In a letter addressed to Attorney-General J.A. Miller
Walker urgently requested assistants, arguing that 'the work has increased in
the office tenfold since Mr. Daniel Carey was Prothonotary, [but] I am allowed
only the same number of assistants as he had? To bolster his request Walker
enumerated his many duties. These included keeping track of "my criminal
papers," reporting on crirninal actions to the Dominion Govemment, keeping
Assize records, indexing the appearance book, indexing the judgment book, and
balancing the books. He received extra help in 1883 when administrative staff
was significantly boosted in numbers. Five employees were assigned to the
Equity side at that tirne? In 1885, with business still on the increase and many
court officiais away, Walker's considerable legal skills were called upon. In his
position as Clerk of the Crown and Peace, he conducted the Crown