Sir Edward Victor Luckhoo OR (24 May 1912 – 3 March 1998) was a Guyanese politician that was the last

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of Guyana, and briefly the acting head of state of the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana on its formation in 1970.

Family and education

He was born in

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

, the son of

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

immigrants Evelyn Maude Mungal-Singh and Edward Luckhoo Alfred, a solicitor of Indian extraction, and educated at Queen's College, Guyana and

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although t ...

, where he was awarded a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree. He studied law 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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

, where he was called to the bar in 1931. Admitted to practice in 1936, he was made

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1965. His grandfather Moses Luckhoo came from India as labourer on sugar plantations. He was the brother of lawyer and diplomat Sir

Lionel Luckhoo Sir Lionel Alfred Luckhoo (2 March 1914 – 12 December 1997) was a Guyanese politician, diplomat, and well-known lawyer, famed for his 245 consecutive successful defences in murder cases. He was the brother of the last Governor-General of G ...

, who was the British High Commissioner for Guyana and Barbados.

Career

He was appointed a Justice of Appeal in 1966 and Chancellor of the Judiciary in October 1969. As Chancellor of the Judiciary from 1969 to 1976, he briefly served as the acting head of state of the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana became a Republic on 23 February 1970. Therefore, Luckhoo was never the president of Guyana and was not officially mentioned.

Honours

He was knighted on 1 January 1970 and received the Order of Roraima of Guyana in 1976. * Knight-Bachelor

Knight Bachelor * Order of Roraima (Guyana) ribbon

Order of Roraima of Guyana

Private life

Edward Luckhoo was married to Maureen Moxlow of

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of t ...

, West Yorkshire, on 9 November 1981. In retirement, they returned to West Yorkshire, and lived in

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2011 Census, the population was ...

, where they were both active members of the Anglican Church, and

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

s for

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an wikt:affirmation, affirma ...

classes. Sir Edward died on 3 March 1998, aged 85, and is buried in Ossett. Lady Luckhoo still resides in the town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luckhoo, Edward 1912 births 1998 deaths Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Guyanese Anglicans Guyanese emigrants to England 20th-century Guyanese judges Guyanese knights Guyanese politicians of Indian descent Members of the Middle Temple 20th-century King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Governors-General of Guyana People from New Amsterdam, Guyana