James Maclennan was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 lawyer, politician, and Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

.

Born in the township of Lancaster, Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 (now Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

), the son of Roderick Maclennan and Mary Macpherson, he received a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 from Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

 in 1849. He studied to be a lawyer and was called to the bar in 1857. He practised law with Oliver Mowat

Oliver Mowat

Sir Oliver Mowat, was a Canadian politician, and the third Premier of Ontario from 1872 to 1896, making him the longest serving premier of that province and the 3rd longest in all of Canadian history...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 until 1888, when he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Maclennan ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Ontario assembly in 1871. In 1874

Canadian federal election, 1874

The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A...

, he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 in the riding of Victoria North

Victoria North

Victoria North was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the province of Ontario...

. However, the election was declared void. He won the by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

in 1874 but again the election was declared void. In 1905, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada and retired in 1909.

Maclennan was married twice: to Elizabeth McGill in 1862 and to Mary L. Strange in 1909.