John Douglas Armour
John Douglas Armour (May 4, 1830 – July 11, 1903) was a Canadian judge who served briefly on the Supreme Court of Canada.
He was born in Otonabee, Upper Canada, the son of Samuel Armour. He studied at Upper Canada College and earned a BA from the University of Toronto in 1850. He articled with his brother and with Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet, and was called to the Bar in 1853. He practiced law for 25 years in Cobourg, Ontario.
In 1877, Armour was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Ontario and soon became its chief justice. He later served as Chief Justice of Ontario from 1900 to 1902.
On November 21, 1902, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier appointed Armour to the Supreme Court of Canada. He served only a short time, as he was in poor health and died on July 11, 1903 in London, England, while on the Alaska Boundary Commission.
Armour’s legacy lies in his long service on Ontario’s courts—about 24 years—where he was known for common sense and for understanding life in Canada, with a sympathy toward ordinary Canadians rather than toward corporations.
Mount Armour (Boundary Peak 175) on the Alaska–British Columbia border, Armour Township in Ontario, and his work on the Alaska Boundary Tribunal all bear his name.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:32 (CET).