Sir Phillip Rodney Bridges (9 July 1922 – 26 December 2007) was a British

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 ...

and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

, who latterly served as

Chief Justice of the Gambia The chief justice of the Gambia is the head of the Gambian judiciary and is responsible for the administration and supervision of the courts. The chief justice is also the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the Gambia. Judges from other Commo ...

from 1968 to 1983.

Early life

Bridges was born on 9 July 1922 near

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, the son of Sir Ernest Bridges, a commodore of Royal Mail Lines. He was educated at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

Military service

Bridges was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

after he left school. He was attached to the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the British West Africa, West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Sierra Leone ...

(RWAFF) and served with them in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. He fought in the Arakan Campaign, where he was involved in a five-month journey that involved crossing ten rivers. According to ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', he recalled one occasion when the man standing next to him was killed, and another where he escaped an ambush only to encounter the enemy again running in the opposite direction. He was demobilised in 1946.

Legal career

After his military service, Bridges qualified as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1954, he was posted to the

Gambia Colony and Protectorate The Gambia Colony and Protectorate was the British colonial administration of The Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era. The colony was the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the p ...

as a lands officer. He worked as Registrar General and Assistant Attorney General before becoming

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 ...

in 1963 and

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 ...

in 1964. He helped draft the Gambian constitution prior to independence.

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

became independent in 1965, but Bridges remained in his post until 1968. This was unusual for post-independence African countries and he was the only European in the Gambian cabinet after independence. Bridges was appointed

in 1968 and continued in this role until 1983. He earned a reputation for "fairness, tolerance, and above all, kindness." He learned the

Wolof Wolof or Wollof may refer to: * Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania * The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...

language while in the country. At one point, as Chief Justice, he reportedly earned the anger of Sir

Dawda Jawara Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as prime minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of The Gambia from 1970 to 1994, when he was overthrown by Yahya Jammeh. Jawa ...

, the then

President of the Gambia The president of the Republic of the Gambia is the head of state and head of government of the Gambia. The president leads the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Gambia, government of the Gambia and is the comma ...

, for recalling

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the ...

's warning before being

burned at the stake Death by burning is an list of execution methods, execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a puni ...

in 1555: "Corruption bringeth rebellion." He was described as "an anomaly of Gambian tolerance" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 1977. Bridges was made 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 ...

in 1964, was appointed CMG in 1967, and was

knight 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 ...

ed in 1973. He was also made an Honorary Commander of the National Order of The Republic of The Gambia (CRG) by Sir Dawda Jawara.

Retirement and death

He retired to England in 1983 and became the representative of The Gambia Legion in the UK and an honorary legal advisor to the British Ex-Commonwealth Services League. He contributed a chapter to ''The Gambia's Studies in Politics and Society'', published in 1991. He died in December 2007 in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. Writing in 2012,

Hassan Bubacar Jallow Hassan Bubacar Jallow (born 14 August 1951) is a Gambian judge who has served as Chief Justice of the Gambia since February 2017. He was the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) from 2003 to 2016, and the Prosecut ...

said that Bridges' "sense of justice and fair play, his personal integrity and deep dedication to the Gambian people were never at any time in question during his long career."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Phillip 1922 births 2007 deaths Military personnel from Bedford People educated at Bedford School Gambia Colony and Protectorate judges English barristers English King's Counsel English knights Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods 20th-century King's Counsel Colonial Legal Service officers British judges on the courts of the Gambia Royal Artillery officers Royal West African Frontier Force officers British Army personnel of World War II Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Chief justices of the Gambia Gambia Colony and Protectorate people