Sir Eric Newton Griffith-Jones KBE CMG QC (1 November 1913 – 13 February 1979) was a British lawyer and administrator who served as

Attorney General of Kenya The Attorney General of Kenya is the head of the Kenyan State Law Office, the principal legal adviser to the government of Kenya, and a member of the Cabinet (government), Cabinet. Dorcas Agik Oduor is the current and first woman Attorney-General ...

between 1955 and 1961.Nicholas J. White, British Business in Post-Colonial Malaysia, 1957-70: Neo-colonialism or Disengagement?, Routledge, 2 Aug 2004

Early life

Griffith-Jones was born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1913 to Oswald Phillips Griffith-Jones and his wife Edith.Wooten & Gibson, 1964, Who's who of Rhodesia, Mauritius, Central and East Africa His paternal aunt was Anne Griffith-Jones. He was educated at Cheltenham College and 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 ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1934.

Career

On completing his studies, he joined the Colonial Legal Service and in 1935 began his career as a solicitor and advocate in

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

and

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

. In 1939 he became Crown Counsel in

. He saw active military service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was a prisoner of war between 1942 and 1945. After the war, he resumed his legal career as a Crown Counsel in the

Malayan Union The Malayan Union (; Jawi: كساتوان مالايا) was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single g ...

. In the early 1950s, he moved to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and was made

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1954. The following year, he was appointed Attorney-General and Minister for Legal Affairs. He served as

Acting Governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or a ...

in 1962–63. In 1963 he succeeded Sir John Hay as head of Guthrie and oversaw a restructuring of the group. He spent his later years on the board of several companies.

Death

He died on 13 February 1979, at 65.Graya: A Magazine for Members of Gray's Inn, Issue 73, Gray's Inn, 1979

References

1913 births 1979 deaths British colonial governors and administrators in Africa British Kenya people Colonial governors and administrators of Kenya People educated at Cheltenham College Colonial Legal Service officers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century King's Counsel People from Singapore {{UK-gov-bio-stub