Ransley Samuel Thacker (1891 – 3 January 1966) was a British lawyer and judge. Employed in the colonial service, he served as Chief Justice of St Vincent (1931–1933), Attorney General of Fiji (1933-1938), and as a judge in British Kenya. He is best known for the jailing of

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigeno ...

Legal and political career

In the early 1930s, Thacker served as Chief Justice of St Vincent, and was serving in that role as of 7 July 1933. Thacker took up the post of Attorney General of Fiji at the end of 1933, passing through Sydney en route to

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Di ...

on 21 December. Thacker served as judge on the Supreme Court of British Kenya from 1938 to 1950. He retired to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

on a £474 pension, which he supplemented by practicing law. He was called out of retirement on 17 November 1952, however, as a First Class

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

to preside over the trial of the

Kapenguria Six The Kapenguria Six – Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Achieng' Oneko – were six leading Kenyan nationalists who were arrested in 1952, tried at Kapenguria in 1952–53, and imprisoned thereafter in N ...

—

and five others accused of organizing the

Mau Mau Mau Mau may refer to: * The Kenya Land and Freedom Army, a Kenyan anti-colonial force ** The Mau Mau rebellion, uprising in Kenya in the 1950s * Mau Mau Island or White Island, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City * Mau Mau (game), a card game ...

movement. On 8 April 1953, Thacker sentenced them to seven years' hard labour. In his summing up, Thacker declared: He added: Kenyatta remained imprisoned until 14 April 1959, and his civil rights were not fully restored until August 1961.

Personal life

Thacker was the son of Henry Thacker and Eliza Jackson. In 1915, Thacker married Olive Frances Braithwaite in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. They had three children, Daphne Elinor (born 1917), Derek (born c.1919) and Derwent Allan (born 1921).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thacker, Ransley 1891 births 1966 deaths Attorneys General of the Colony of Fiji Attorneys-general of Fiji Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Chief justices of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines British Kenya judges British Windward Islands judges People from Nottingham British expatriates in Fiji English King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers