Sir Daniel Harold Ryan Twomey (1864 – 28 September 1935) was an Irish-born British colonial administrator and judge in Burma. He was Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma from 1917 until his retirement in 1920.

Biography

The son of a Queenstown butcher and ship's chandler, Twomey was educated at

St Stanislaus College St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaste ...

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midlands Reg ...

and

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

in 1882, and was appointed a deputy commissioner in Burma in 1890. He was called to the English bar by 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 ...

in 1895. Twomey was appointed as Secretary to the Government of Burma in 1897, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner in 1899, Acting Chief Secretary in 1901, and Commissioner in 1905. He was also 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 ...

from 1901. He was appointed a Judge of the Chief Court of Lower Burma at Rangoon in 1910, and was promoted to be Chief Judge of the Chief Court in 1917, receiving a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

the same year. In 1911, he heard the Irish-born monk Dhammaloka's appeal against his conviction for seditious speech. Twomey retired from government service in 1920 and lived in

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was appointed a JP for Devon in 1925. In 1895, Twomey married May Ponsford, daughter of the Rev. W. Ponsford. Their daughter Phyllis Margaret Twomey (1900–1933) married Gilbert Tew, an ICS officer posted to Burma and was the mother of the leading anthropologist Dame Mary Douglas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twomey, Daniel 1864 births 1935 deaths Knights Bachelor People from Cobh People educated at St Stanislaus College Alumni of University College London Indian Civil Service (British India) officers British colonial governors and administrators in Asia Irish expatriates in Myanmar Members of the Legislative Council of Burma Judges from British Burma Lawyers from County Cork