Sir John Worrell Carrington, (29 May 1847 – 11 February 1913) was a British jurist, elected representative, and colonial administrator between 1872 and 1902. He served the Caribbean colonies of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

, and

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

until his final appointment as Chief Justice of Hong Kong.

Early life

Carrington was born in 1847 at St Joseph's parish on

and was the fourth son of Thomas Worrell Carrington (1801–1855), a planter, of Industry Plantation. He had a dozen siblings and an older brother, George Carrington (1841–1891) who was also a lawyer in the firm of Messrs. Carrington and Sealy, Solicitors in Bridgetown St. Michael's. He attended

The Lodge School The Lodge School is a co-educational government secondary school in Saint John, Barbados, established in 1745. The school has closed and reopened four times, and has been known as Codrington College, The College, The Mansion School, the Codrington ...

. was then a scholar at

Codrington College Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in Saint John, Barbados, St. John, Barbados now affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is one of the oldest Anglican theological colleges in the Americas. It was ...

and was even known for having played one

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

match for the island before he finished in 1866. Carrington's mother, Christian Wharton Reed (1815–1883) was from an Oxfordshire family and his ties with Oxford were clearly strong. Like many fortunate Barbadian's often did when the island was part of the British West Indian colony, he had the opportunity to travel to and from England and to pursue his higher educated there at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, where he obtained a B.A. in 1872. Then, aged 22, he was called to the Bar at the

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 ...

on 6 June 1872.Genealogies of Barbados Families: From Caribbeana, p210. Four months later, before returning to Barbados to begin his career in earnest, he married on 2 October 1872 in Oxford, Susan Catherine (1847–1928) the only daughter of William Walsh of Norham. Most of the couple's children – Catherine Worrell (1874–1946), John Walsh (1879–1964), Charles Worrell (1880–1948) and Ruth Alice (1884–1897) – were born at "The Farm" and "Norham" in Saint Michael parish on the island. His son Charles also studied at Lincoln's Inn (1900), became Captain of the Grenadier Guards and was himself awarded the D.S.O. His last son, Edward Worrell Carrington (1888–1915), born in Oxford, also became a Captain (in RAMC) and was awarded the Military Cross having been killed at the First Battle of Loos in 1915.Family research thanks to R. Greaves (2001) Carrington was awarded an Honorary D.C.L. by the University of Durham in 1879.Colonial Office List, cited in Norton-Kyshe, The History of the Laws and Courts of Hong Kong, Vol II p. 472n

Legal appointments

After his return to Barbados Carrington was made a member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from October 1874 to December 1878, when he was called to a seat in the

legislative council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, and acted a Judge Assistant at the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

from 1874 to 1875 (a post he took again in 1879). He was appointed

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

of Barbados from 1877, acted as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

between 1881 and 1882, and then till 1889 he served as Chief Justice for several Caribbean governments. For

(1883–1885) he was engaged in 1885–1886, under the sanction of the Colonial Office, in preparing and printing a draft revised edition of the Laws of Tobago, and in which capacity he was thanked by their Secretary of State and Governor-in-Charge for his services in connection with Education in that Colony. For St Lucia in 1888–1889 to create a new edition of their laws. For Grenada between August and October 1886. Then, shortly after being granted a C.M.G. in 1888, once again Carrington was in the position of Attorney General now for

from 1889 to 1896, during which time he collated four volumes of The Laws of British Guiana (1774-1895) and was appointed a

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 ...

(1890). In 1896, he took the appointment of Chief Justice of Hong Kong, presiding as the chief judge of the Supreme Court. Soon after his appointment, in 1897, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

. He served as Chief Justice until 31 March 1902, when he retired on a pension. After stepping down, he prepared a revised edition of the ordinances of the colony. He commanded the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps from 1896 to 1901 and was given a farewell parade in 1901.

Retirement

Carrington retired due to ill health in March 1902, and left Hong Kong to live first at Oxford and later at Reading, England, where he died on 11 February 1913 at the age of 65. Obituary in Dundee,12 Feb 1913, p_; Angus-Shire, ScotlandObituary in Exeter,13 Feb 1913, p_; Devon, EnglandStraits Times, 20 February 1913, p. 8; Cricinfo statistics for John Carrington

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, John Worrell 1847 births 1913 deaths British Guiana judges People educated at The Lodge School, Barbados Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn English civil servants Colony of Barbados judges Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong British Hong Kong judges Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society British Windward Islands judges Attorneys-general of British Guiana Governors of British Tobago British colonial attorneys general in the Americas 19th-century King's Counsel Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados Barbados cricketers Chief justices of Tobago Lawyers awarded knighthoods