James Vernall Teetzel was mayor of Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

 from 1899 to 1900.

Teetzel was born on March 6, 1853 in Fingal, Elgin County

Elgin County, Ontario

Elgin County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario with a current population of approximately 46,000. The county seat is St. Thomas.It consists of:*Town of Aylmer*Municipality of Bayham*Municipality of Central Elgin...

. He attended Woodstock College

Woodstock College

Woodstock College was a Jesuit seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States. The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, when it moved to New York City, where it operated in cooperation with...

, Galt Collegiate Institute

Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School

Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School is one of sixteen secondary schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board, located in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada....

 and Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall Law School

Osgoode Hall Law School is a Canadian law school, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and affiliated with York University. Named after the first Chief Justice of Ontario, William Osgoode, the law school was established by The Law Society of Upper Canada in 1889 and was the only accredited law...

, articling

Articled clerk

An articled clerk, also known as an articling student, is an apprentice in a professional firm in Commonwealth countries. Generally the term arises in the accountancy profession and in the legal profession. The articled clerk signs a contract, known as "articles of clerkship", committing to a...

 with Osler, Wink & Gwyn. In 1877, after four years in Hamilton, he was called to the bar

Call to the bar

The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...

 and entered partnership with Britton Bath Osler

Britton Bath Osler

Britton Bath Osler was a Canadian lawyer and prosecutor.The older of three famous brothers , he was born in Bond Head, Canada West. His father, Featherstone Lake Osler , the son of a shipowner at Falmouth, Cornwall, was a former Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and served on H.M.S...

.

He married Priscilla Grace Darling in 1880.

He was created Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel

Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...

 in 1890 and on May 16, 1903 was elevated to the bench as Judge of the High Court, Common Pleas Division. In 1910 he became chairman of the Ontario Parole Board. Teetzel served as alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 in 1884, 1885 and 1896 and became mayor in 1899 and was returned by acclamation

Acclamation

An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot. "Acclamation" or "acclamatio" can also signify a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval in certain social contexts in ancient Rome.-Voting:...

 in 1900. During his term of office Dundurn Park was acquired and the Public Parks Act was put into effect in Hamilton establishing the Board of Parks Management. He retired from public life after a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 in 1912 and travelled extensively until his death on August 25, 1926 in Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

.