Sir Alfred Joseph Karney Young (1 August 1864 – 5 January 1942) was a British barrister and judge. He held a number of political and judicial offices, including Attorney General of British East Africa, Chief Justice of the Seychelles,

Attorney General of Fiji The Attorney-General is a political and legal officer in Fiji. The attorney-general is the chief law officer of the State, and has responsibility for supervising Fijian law and advising the government on legal matters. Like other members of th ...

Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands The chief justice of the Leeward Islands headed the Supreme Court of the Leeward Islands. The British Leeward Islands was a British colony existing between 1833 and 1960, and consisted of Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, ...

Chief Justice of Fiji The chief justice is the Republic of Fiji's highest judiciary, judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The chief justice is appointed by the President of Fiji, president ...

, and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

Early life and family

Alfred Young was born in Victoria,

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

, where his father, William Alexander George Young (c1827-1885) (later Sir William Young, CMG), was Colonial Secretary and also acting Colonial Secretary of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. His mother was Cecilia Eliza Cowan Cameron. Alfred Young was the youngest of three children. His brother was Sir

William Douglas Young Sir William Douglas Young (27 January 1859 – 7 March 1943) was a colonial administrator from British Columbia who was Governor of the Falkland Islands from 1915 to 1920. Early life William Young was born in the newly created Colony of Brit ...

(1859–1943),

Governor of the Falkland Islands The governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting "in His Majesty's name and on His Majesty's behalf" as the islands' Viceroy in the absence of the British monarch. The role and power ...

from 1915 to 1920. His sister was Mary Alice Young (b. 1862), who married

Frederick Mitchell Hodgson Sir Frederick Mitchell Hodgson, (1851 – 6 August 1925) was a British Empire, British colonial administrator who was Governor of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast (1898–1900), Barbados (1900–04) and British Guiana (1904–11). Ear ...

, later Governor of Gold Coast like her father. He was educated in England at St. Mark's School, Windsor (later

Imperial Service College The Imperial Service College (ISC) was an English independent school based in Windsor, originally known as St. Mark's School when it was founded in 1845. In 1906, St Mark’s School absorbed boys from the former United Services College, which ...

) until 1884, and graduated from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

in 1887.

Legal career

He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, 15 May 1889. His colonial legal career began with an appointment (possibly as Crown Prosecutor) in the British administration of

British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973

(now

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

), where he compiled a list of the colony's laws, and made a report on the 1901 Census. In April 1893 he sailed on the from New York for Liverpool (also on board was the Governor of British Honduras, Sir Alfred Moloney). Young was appointed

Crown Prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...

in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

in 1903, where he made the decennial revision of the current list of laws of the Seychelles. He served as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of the

British Central Africa Protectorate The British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA) was a British protectorate proclaimed in 1889 and ratified in 1891 that occupied the same area as present-day Malawi: it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. British interest in the area arose from visits ...

from May 1906 and

Stipendiary Magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

before being appointed Chief Justice of the Seychelles in 1909. In April 1914 (just before the outbreak of World War I) he was appointed

, which included his being made an Official Member of the

Legislative Council of Fiji The Legislative Council of Fiji was the British Empire, colonial precursor to the present-day Parliament of Fiji, Parliament, which came into existence when Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970. The first Legislative Council Immediate ...

. He was in Sydney in June 1920, the guest at a rugby match of the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

, Sir Walter Davidson. Davidson had been Governor of the Seychelles when Young was Crown Prosecutor and Attorney General there. In November 1920 Young was appointed

, and in 1921 as a member of the Fijian Legislative Council. He was appointed

and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific in December 1922, and received a knighthood the following year. He was in Sydney again in April 1927.

1928 Royal Commission

In 1928 Young headed a Royal Commission to investigate whether the swimming baths in the capital,

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, operated a 'Europeans-only' policy. Since 1879 the colony of Fiji had imported indentured workers (as cheap labour) from India to work in the European-owned plantations, which produced (according to demand) sea island cotton from the late 1860s to the early 1870s, then

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

, then

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

from around 1880. This Indian immigration (which ended in 1916) came about because the Pacific Islands (particularly the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands) couldn't provide enough labour. These islands provided labour from 1864 to 1911, when the European planters in the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides brought about legislation to prevent emigration from those islands. The involvement of the Indian Army and India generally during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

had convinced the colonial Indian Government of the necessity of enfranchising all Indian citizens, and this was granted in 1917. This move towards "responsible government" included Indians living in Fiji, which replicated in some degree the political motivation and agitation which within India pushed towards the Dominion status enjoyed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Moves towards independence continued to gather pace during Young's time as Chief Justice in Fiji, where many time-served previously indentured labourers from India had stayed on to live permanently. In 1928, Indian Fijians began to complain about low numbers of enfranchised rate-payers in Suva, and about a perceived 'Europeans-only' policy of segregation in the two municipally-run public Suva swimming baths . The Governor, Sir Eyre Hutson appointed a Committee to investigate the municipal matter. The committee split into three factions which each produced a report on the situation. The disagreement between the three groups led to the Governor appointing Young to head a Royal Commission: he found that there had been a policy of segregation, which was brought to an end.

Cricketing career

Alfred Young played cricket twice for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

, once in 1887 and again in 1890. The latter match, against MCC at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

, was his only

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

appearance. He also played for Rochester Cricket Club. According to his

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

obituary, he was "a sound, steady batsman, showing special skill in placing the ball off his legs and late cutting". Young was an early pioneer of cricket in British Honduras, his first posting in the judiciary of the British colonial administration.

Later life and death

He retired in 1929, and married Frances May Buckley (née Miller) (1875–4 October 1952) on 19 April 1930. Her parents were Sir

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

(9 September 1830 – 7 February 1917) and Jessie Orbell (d. 23 July 1920). Frances was the widow (married 14 June 1899) of St. John McLean Buckley, a wealthy New Zealand sheep rancher who died in 1916. Young was later appointed a

Resident Magistrate A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel—notably well versed in the law—brought int ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, and died there in Tamboerskloof on 5 January 1942, aged 76. A brief notice of his death appeared in the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

Selected publications

* * (''The Angelus'' was a Belize newspaper.) *
[F. A. HerchenroderDurup, Julien (2008)
Chief Justice of the Seychelles
Retrieved 24 September 2015. was the first Chief Justice of the Seychelles.]

References

Citations Sources * * (D.Phil. dissertation) * * * * * [This work continues the pioneering research of .] * * * * * * {{cite book , last=Massue , first=Melville Henry (Marquis of Ruvigny and Ranieval) , title=

The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal Melville Amadeus Henry Douglas Heddle de la Caillemotte de Massue de Ruvigny (26 April 1868 – 6 October 1921) was a British genealogist and author who was twice president of the Legitimist Jacobite League of Great Britain and Ireland. He styled ...

: The Mortimer-Percy Volume , series=The Plantagenet roll...being a complete table of all the descendants now living of Edward III, king of England , year=2013 , orig-year=1911 , publisher=Heritage Books , isbn=9780788418723 , pag
522
} *{{cite encyclopedia , url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cameron_david_10E.html , chapter=Cameron, David , first=William R. , last=Sampson , year=1972 , title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online , publisher=University of Toronto , accessdate=18 December 2010 * {{cite journal , last=Shlomowitz , first=Ralph , title=The Fiji labor trade in comparative perspective, 1864–1914 , journal=Pacific Studies , volume=9 , issue=3 , date=July 1986 , url=https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PacificStudies/article/viewFile/9416/9065 * {{cite book , last=Streeter , first=Anne P. , title=Joseph S. Harris and the U.S. Northwest Boundary Survey, 1857–1861 , year=2012 , publisher=Trafford Publishing , isbn=9781466936218 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvnVx2raMPEC

External links

History of the Seychelles in 1909
at the ''Seychelles Nation'' {{s-start {{s-legal {{s-bef , before= {{s-ttl , title= Attorney General of British East Africa , years=1906–c.1909 {{s-aft , after= {{s-bef , before= {{s-ttl , title= Attorney General of the Seychelles , years=1909-c.1914 {{s-aft , after= {{s-bef , before= Albert Ehrhardt {{s-ttl , title=

, years=1914–1922 {{s-aft , after= Sir Kenneth MacKenzie {{s-bef , before= {{s-ttl , title=

, years=1920–1921 {{s-aft , after= {{s-bef, rows=2, before= Sir Kenneth MacKenzie {{s-ttl, title= Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific , years=1923–1929 {{s-aft, rows=2, after= Sir Maxwell Hendry Maxwell Anderson , - {{s-ttl, title=

, years=1923–1929 {{s-end {{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Alfred Karney Attorneys general of the Colony of Fiji Attorneys-general of Fiji People from Victoria, British Columbia Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 1864 births 1942 deaths Colony of Fiji judges Ethnic minority members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Chief justices of Fiji Chief judicial commissioners for the Western Pacific Attorneys general of the East Africa Protectorate Chief justices of Seychelles British Seychelles judges Chief justices of the Leeward Islands British Honduras people South African judges British Trinidad and Tobago judges Knights Bachelor Colony of Vancouver Island people Canadian cricketers