Colonial Despatches

Adam Thorn is referred to as the Recorder in this correspondence. A Recorder is a judge that may sit in for both the Crown and County courts.1 This post is part-time, and is often the first step on the judicial ladder to appointment to the circuit bench.2 Thorn was the Recorder of Rupert's Land until 1854, when he was removed from the position, at the request of the Metis population, in favour of a bilingual judge.3

• 1. Recorder, Judiciary of England and Wales.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Clinton O. White, Johnson, Sir Francis Godschall, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.