Sir Charles Henry Major (30 October 1860 – 31 August 1933) was a British judge, who served in various colonies around the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, as well as in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Biography

Born in

St Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

, Major was the son of Charles Henry Major Sr., manager of the Colonial Bank of the West Indies, and Francis Frederica Clinckett, of Barbados. He was called to the bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and practised Law in the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

from 1887. He was Chancellor of the Diocese of Antigua from 1889 to 1899, a member of the Legislative Council of Antigua from 1895 to 1899, and a member and President of the General Legislative Council of the Leeward Islands from 1896 to 1900. He served as a member of the Federal Executive Council of the Leeward Islands from 1897 to 1901, as Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Antigua from 1897 to 1899, and Attorney General of Grenada from 1901 to 1902, when he transferred to

. He was appointed Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific and

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 ...

in September 1902, serving as such until 1914, then as Chief Justice of British Guiana from 1914 till his death in 1933. During his term as Chief Justice of Fiji, he was ''ex officio'' a member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, and acted as

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice the functions of the crown were normally exercis ...

in an interim capacity from 1910 to 21 February 1911. He was given a knighthood in 1911 while serving as Chief Justice of Fiji.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Charles Henry 1860 births 1933 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Governors of Fiji Colony of Fiji judges Knights Bachelor Chief justices of Fiji Chief justices of British Guiana Members of the Legislative Council of Antigua Attorneys general of British Grenada Members of the General Legislative Council of the Leeward Islands Chief judicial commissioners for the Western Pacific People from the British West Indies