Arthur Child (judge)

The Honourable Arthur Child (20 November 1852 – 24 August 1902)^[1] was a British lawyer, jurist and colonial administrator, who was Chief Justice of St Lucia from 1890 to 1902.

Career

Child was born in 1852, the 11th child of Henry Child, a solicitor in London. He was from a family of lawyers, two of his father′s brothers were also solicitors. He was educated privately at Priory-house School, Clapton, and at the University College London, and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple on 17 November 1876.

After practicing on the South Eastern Circuit, at the Mayor′s Court and at the Central Criminal Court, he left his home country for the West Indies in 1882 when he was appointed Stipendiary Magistrate at San Fernando, Trinidad, 1882.^[2] During his years on that island, he also acted as a puisne judge from 1887 to 1888.

He was appointed acting Chief Justice of Saint Lucia in 1889, and was confirmed in the position in 1890. While serving as such he also administered the government on the island in 1894–95, and was a member of the Court of Appeal for the British Windward Islands.^[1] According to his obituary in The Times, he ″was a sound lawyer and none of his decisions were ever reversed upon appeal to the Privy Council″.^[2]

During his years in Trinidad, he was captain commanding the San Fernando volunteers.^[1]

He died in office at Castries, St Lucia, on 24 August 1902, leaving a widow and four sons.^[2]

References