William Tetley
William Tetley, 1927-2014
Biographical Details
- First name: William
- Last name: Tetley
- Birth date: 1927
- Death date: 2014
- Permalink: https://biography.lawi.ca/william-tetley/ (Stable identifier)
Biography of William Tetley
William Tetley was educated in Montreal public schools, and then the Royal Canadian Naval College and served in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve as a midshipman, Sub-Lieutenant and Lieutenant. He obtained his B.A. from McGill University (1948) and Ll.L. from Laval University (1951) and then practiced maritime law for 18 years for Martineau, Walker, Allison, Beaulieu & Tetley, which became Fasken Martineau DuMoulin. Subsequently he was a member of the Québec National Assembly for eight years, including almost seven years as a Cabinet member under Premier Robert Bourassa.
In 1976, he joined McGill Law Faculty, where he has taught international maritime law, private international law and consumer law. He was Visiting Professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Tulane University, New Orleans (U.S.A.) from 1984 to 1998 and one year later the Tulane University named an annual lecture series in his honor, referred to as the annual Tetley Maritime Law Lecture. He was appointed a visiting professor at Dalian University in 1996, and lectured at many other universities and conferences around the world, for instance at Cambridge, Aix-en-Provence and Southampton. William Tetley earned many honors throughout his long career. In 1981, he won the Lilar Prize of Brussels, awarded every three years by the “Comité Maritime International” (CMI) for a leading work on maritime law published in any language in the world.
In 1994, he was named a Honorary Life Vice-President of the CMI and in 1995 a Member of the Order of Canada. He received the F.R. Scott Award for Distinguished Service for his contribution to law and the life of the Faculty, and his exceptional service and leadership to society. In 2004, a fellowship (the William Tetley Fellowship) was named after him, for doctoral and master’s studies at McGill University. Last but not least, he was an Awarded professor of law specialliced on Maritime Laws, Maritime Liens and Mortgages, and Marine Cargo Claims. His books have been translated into many languages, including Russian, Japanese and Chinese. As beautiful stated in the IMLI e-News, the legend in maritime law’s lasting legacy will undoubtedly be the books Prof. Tetley has written but also his vast knowledge of, expertise and enthusiasm for maritime law, which he shared with all, students, practitioners and the maritime world at large. He is already sadly missed by all of us, by all those people, institutions and by maritime lawyers throughout the world, whose lives he touched, including IMLI. We bid him farewell and know that his maritime soul will keep marching on.