Sir James William Murison (23 March 1872 – 28 August 1945) was a Scottish colonial judge. He was

Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements The chief justice of Singapore is the presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest office in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the president, on the advice of the prime minister. The incumbent chief justice ...

from 1925 to 1933, and, before that, Chief Judge of Zanzibar. He chaired the Murison Committee, a commission set up to study the incidents leading to the violent outbreak and the course of events between 13 October and 3 November 1933, in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and estimate the damage done to property and loss of life. The commission's report was published in the ''Palestine Gazette'' and, after presenting its outline of the causes and events of the disturbances, concluded that while an "Arab crowd in Palestine is mercurial and excitable and when excited, dangerous", the British colonial

Palestine Police Force The Palestine Police Force (, ) was a British colonial police service established in Mandatory Palestine on 1 July 1920,Sinclair, 2006. when High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel's civil administration took over responsibility for security from ...

had in its response "acted with restraint and forbearance". He was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, the younger son of academic Alexander Falconer Murison. He attended

St Olave's Grammar School St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a grammar school, selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the sch ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He was admitted at the Middle Temple in 1893 and called to the bar in 1896. He worked as a

conveyancer In most Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be (but need not be) a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or ...

in 1900 and then entered the colonial service in Africa in 1902. He was knighted in 1919.

References

Chief justices of Singapore 1872 births 1945 deaths People from Aberdeen People educated at St Olave's Grammar School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge {{UK-law-bio-stub