Sir Mota Singh, QC (26 July 1930 – 13 November 2016) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

judge who was noted for being the United Kingdom's first Asian judge.

Biography

Singh was born in 1930 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

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. ...

. He was the eldest of six siblings."Sir Mota Singh"
. thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2023. After a short stint as a clerk at the East African Railways and Harbours, he joined a European firm of lawyers in Nairobi. He was married meanwhile to Swaran Kaur in 1950 and a daughter was born a year later. He continued his Bar studies. In 1953, Singh accompanied by his wife and daughter went to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. After passing the Bar final examinations in 1955, he returned to Kenya in 1956, to start his own practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in Nairobi. He also entered politics and was elected a City Councillor and then elevated to the position of

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the City of Nairobi. He went on to hold many responsible positions before he decided in 1965 to emigrate to

. He joined the English bar in 1967 and made headlines with his appointment to the bench in 1982, the first from a minority ethnic group and first judge to sit on the English Bench wearing a turban instead of a horse-hair wig. Singh retired from the Bench in 2002.

Personal life

Singh was a teetotaller and

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

Honours

In 2010, Singh was knighted by the Queen for his services to the judiciary and for his charitable works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Mota 1930 births 2016 deaths British people of Indian descent British Sikhs Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Kenyan people of Indian descent British people of Indo-Kenyan descent Knights Bachelor Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Nairobi