Weir, Samuel Edward, 1898-1981

Samuel Edward Weir was born in London, Ontario, on 12 August 1898 to Dr. George Sutton Weir and Sarah Bawtinheimer. In 1915, he began to study law at Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1920. Weir practiced in London, Ontario, working with Jeffrey and Co., and later established his own practice. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1936, elected a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1950, and became a Life Bencher in 1965. Weir retired from active practice in 1970, living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, until his death on 18 January 1981. During his life, Weir was involved with many societies and associations, including: the Quebec Bar Association, the Bar of the City of New York, the Champlain Society, the Royal Society of Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum. Weir served on London City Council from 1932 to 1933, and was a member and later Chair of the Victoria Hospital Trust (London, Ontario). Weir also founded and was first Chair of the Board of the District Trust Co., in London, Ontario. In 1973, Weir was made an Honorary Chief of the Cape Croker Ojibwa Reserve, where his grandfather had served as a Methodist missionary. Weir willed his home and art collection to the Weir Foundation. His former home, RiverBrink, opened as a gallery and museum in 1983.