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Biography · Civil Rights & Community

Robert Sutherland

1830–1878

Canada

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Biography

Robert Sutherland (1830–June 2, 1878), a native of Jamaica, was the first known Black graduate at a Canadian university, and the first Black man to study law in British North America. A graduate of Queen's University, Sutherland qualified to practise law in Ontario under the then prevailing system of apprenticeship and examination. He studied at Osgoode Law School and practised law for 20 years in Walkerton, Ontario.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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