Francis Smith (30 June 1847 – 25 November 1912) was a Sierra Leonean

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

in the Gold Coast. He was the second Sierra Leonean to qualify as a barrister after he passed the bar at

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 ...

on 26 January 1871.

Early life and background

Francis Smith was born in 1847 to William Smith Jr., registrar of the Mixed Commissary Court in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

, Sierra Leone, and his wife, Charlotte Smith (née Macaulay). William Smith was born in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Gu ...

in the Gold Coast and was the son of a Fante princess and Judge William Smith Sr (1795–1875), who served as head of the Mixed Commissary Church in Freetown. Charlotte Macaulay was born to Mary Harding, a

Jamaican Maroon Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ens ...

mother, and Kenneth Macaulay, a distant relation of

Lord Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 184 ...

and second cousin to

Zachary Macaulay Zachary Macaulay ( gd, Sgàire MacAmhlaoibh; 2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a Scottish statistician and abolitionist who was a founder of London University and of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and a Governor of British Sierra Leone ...

Education

Smith was educated at

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is an independent, public school for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1591 at the request of leading citizens in Wakefield (headed ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. After completing his secondary education, he entered

on 10 January 1868 and was called to the bar in 1871.

Judicial career

Smith rose rapidly through the judicial ranks and was appointed Chief Magistrate of

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 c ...

in 1879. He was appointed a

of the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast Colony in 1887, and later considered for appointment as Chief Justice.

Family and descendants

Smith was the younger brother of Dr. Robert Smith (1840–1885), who served as Assistant Colonial Surgeon in Sierra Leone. Smith was the maternal grandfather of

Frances Wright Frances Wright (September 6, 1795 – December 13, 1852), widely known as Fanny Wright, was a Scottish-born lecturer, writer, freethinker, feminist, utopian socialist, abolitionist, social reformer, and Epicurean philosopher, who became ...

through her mother, Eva Wright (née Smith), and his great-grandson and namesake is Emile Francis Short, the first justice on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

Retirement and death

At the time of his retirement in 1907, Smith was the only African serving on a superior court, and another would not be named until the 1930s. He retired to England and died in London on 12 May 1912. His achievements were recognized in glowing tributes across West Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Francis Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leoneans of Jamaican Maroon descent Sierra Leonean people of British descent Sierra Leonean people of Caribbean descent Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate people 1847 births 1912 deaths