Born:
July 1st, 1841 – October 4th, 1916

Call Year:
1862

Distinguished as:
First in line of many family members who still practice law in Hamilton.

Of a proud and prolific lineage that can be traced back through United Empire Loyalist stock to Francois le Sueur of France, Stephen Franklin Lazier was a son of Benjamin Franklin Lazier. He attended school in Dundas, where he moved with his family. In 1860, at the age of eighteen he graduated with a BA from Victoria University in Cobourg; he obtained an MA in 1864 and an LLB in 1865. When only twenty-one years of age, he had been called to the bar in 1862; in 1863 he was made a barrister and set up practice in Hamilton, where he remained for the rest of his life.

His profound knowledge of law and skill in its application soon propelled him to the forefront of the legal community. He served as president of the Hamilton Law Association and later the Wentworth Bar Association. In a speech to the Ontario Bar Association in 1910, he recommended higher fees for lawyers to force out-of-court settlements of many disputes and ease the overcrowded dockets. Lazier has able partners: David Black Chrisholm from 1870 and John F. Monck and K. Dingwall from 1863 to 1896. He created the Queen’s Counsel in 1890. His two sons, Ernest Franklin (Later a Judge) and Harold Lister, eventually joined him in the firm Lazier & Lazier; E. F. Lazier’s son Colin S has been a lawyer and judge in Hamilton and the latter’s son Colin G. is also lawyer.

Always Liberal, Lazier was influential in his party. Deeply interested in public education, he was elected in 1886 as ward 2’s trustee for the Board of Education and served as chairman in 1889. In 1910 his board position was taken over by his son Ernest. He was director of Union Trust Co. and the Hamilton YMCA, vice-president of the London Banking and Loan Association, the Wentworth Historical Society, and the Hamilton Branch of the Quebec Battlefield Association. He was a member of the Hamilton Club and a past master of Temple Lodge in the Scottish rite.

Upon Lazier's death the Hamilton Spectator commented, ‘He occupied a large place in the affairs of this city, and the better he was known, the more highly was he esteemed for his integrity combined with great business acumen. ‘Urbane and gracious, he was beloved by all whom he habitually came in contact.

Source: "Lazier, S.F.," Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, Volume II (1876-1924) pg 89.