Foreword

Introduction: Does Law Matter? The New Colonial Legal History / Benjamin L. Berger, Hamar Foster, and A.R. Buck

Part 1: Authority at the Boundaries of Empire

1 Libel and the Colonial Administration of Justice in Upper Canada and New South Wales, c. 1825-30 / Barry Wright

2 The Limits of Despotic Government at Sea / Bruce Kercher

3 One Chief, Two Chiefs, Red Chiefs, Blue Chiefs: Newcomer Perspectives on Indigenous Leadership in Rupert’s Land and the North-West Territories / Janna Promislow

4 Rhetoric, Reason, and the Rule of Law in Early Colonial New South Wales / Ian Holloway, Simon Bronitt, and John Williams

5 Sometimes Persuasive Authority: Dominion Case Law and English Judges, 1895-1970 / Jeremy Finn

Part 2: Courts and Judges in the Colonies

6 Courts, Communities, and Communication: The Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Circuit, 1816-50 / Jim Phillips and Philip Girard

7 Fame and Infamy: Two Men of the Law in Colonial New Zealand / David V. Williams

8 Moving in an “Eccentric Orbit”: The Independence of Judge Algernon Sidney Montagu in Van Diemen’s Land, 1833-47 / Stefan Petrow

9 “Not in Keeping with the Traditions of the Cariboo Courts”: Courts and Community Identity in Northeastern British Columbia, 1920-50 / Jonathan Swainger

Part 3: Property, Politics, and Petitions in Colonial Law

10 Starkie’s Adventures in North America: The Emergence of Libel Law / Lyndsay M. Campbell

11 The Law of Dower in New South Wales and the United States: A Study in Comparative Legal History / A.R. Buck and Nancy E. Wright

12 Contesting Prohibition and the Constitution in 1850s New Brunswick / Greg Marquis

13 From Humble Prayers to Legal Demands: The Cowichan Petition of 1909