George French (1817–1881) was a British judge. He was the Chief Justice of both the Supreme Court of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and the

British Supreme Court for China and Japan The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles o ...

Early life

French was born in 1817, in

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, His father, Mark Dyer French, was a barrister in the West Indies who had also served at one time as Registrar of the Court of Common Pleas of the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

. French went to

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

, Cambridge, where he obtained a B.A (jun. op.) in 1839 and an MA in 1842. His father died while he was at university and left him the relatively large sum for the time of £5,000.

Career

French was called to the Bar at

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

in 1844. As a barrister, French "did not have a large business in court." But he was well known in the courts as a law reporter for ''The Times'' and the ''Law Journal'' in the court of the Vice Chancellor. For a number of years he sat as a deputy county court judge. In 1867 French was appointed Chief Justice of the courts of

. He also sat as a Judge of the Mixed Courts in Sierra Leone from 1871 to 1875. In his capacity as Chief Justice, he was also Acting Governor of Sierra Leone from December 1874 to 1875. In 1875, the Sierra Leone government faced serious financial difficulties and French was placed on a pension. In 1877, French was appointed Chief Judge of the

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, replacing Sir Edmund Hornby. In 1878, his title was changed to Chief Justice.

Death

French died in office in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

on November 13, 1881. He was buried in Onohama Cemetery in Kobe. His coffin was carried to the cemetery by sailors from HMS Flying Fish.London and China Telegraph, Jan 9, 1882, p26 He was succeeded by Richard Rennie. His grave was moved to Futatabi Cemetery after World War II where it remains to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, George 1817 births 1881 deaths Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate judges British Supreme Court for China judges Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Chief justices of Sierra Leone People from Tortola 19th-century English judges

Early life

Career

Death

Further reading

References