H.R. Stuart Ryan, (1910-2004 ) Q.C., D.C.L. was born in Newburg, Ontario. He graduated in 1930, in Classics, from Trinity College, University of Toronto, and from Osgoode Hall Law School, in 1933. He started a legal practice in Port Hope in 1934, returning there after serving in World War II. In 1941, he became Mayor of Port Hope, and Chairman of the Board of Education. When the Faculty of Law was established at Queen's University in 1957, Stuart Ryan, along with Daniel Soberman, were the first two teachers hired, H.R.S Ryan specializing in criminal law. He was well known as an advocate of civil liberties and human rights in society, especially in prisons. Harold Robert Stuart Ryan died at his home, in Kingston, Ontario, in April 2004, at age 93.