Sir Sidney Solomon Abrahams (11 February 1885 – 14 May 1957), nicknamed Solly, was a British

Olympic athlete Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

and 26th Chief Justice of Ceylon (

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

). He was the older brother of famed Olympian Harold Abrahams.

Early life

Born in Birmingham, England, Abrahams was educated at Bedford Modern School and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

. He competed at athletics for Cambridge University from 1904 to 1906. At the unofficial Olympiad, the 1906 '

Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

' held in Athens, he finished fifth in the long jump with 6.21 metres. At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics he finished in eleventh place in the same event with 6.72 metres. At the 1913

Amateur Athletic Association Championships The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Brita ...

in London, he won the long jump with 6.86 metre
British Athletics Championships 1876-1914
He studied law at the Middle Temple and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1909.

Career

He joined the Colonial Service and was Advocate General in Baghdad in 1920 and President of the Civil Courts in Basra in 1921. After serving as Attorney General of Zanzibar (1922), Uganda (1925) and Gold Coast (1928), Abrahams was appointed Chief Justice of Uganda in 1933 and

Chief Justice of Tanganyika The chief justice of Tanzania is the highest post in the judicial system of Tanzania. The chief justice is appointed by the president and presides over the Court of Appeal of Tanzania. History After the First World War, the former German-governed ...

in 1934. He then served as Chief Justice of Ceylon from 1936 to 1939 and was knighted in 1936. The most celebrated case he presided over was that of the Australian Mark Anthony Bracegirdle, whom the Governor of British Ceylon Sir Reginald Stubbs was attempting to have deported; the court ruled against the Governor. He was founder-president of the Medico-Legal Society of Ceylon. He was succeeded by John Curtois Howard, after the acting

Francis Soertsz Sir Francis Joseph Soertsz KC (14 March 1886 – 10 January 1951) was an Acting Chief Justice of Ceylon who served on three occasions in 1939, 1945 and 1946. Soertsz was born in 1886, the son of Francis William and Emily Josephine Soertsz. He wa ...

. He retired from the bench in 1939. Sidney Abrahams chaired a Committee on the Administration of Justice in Nigeria. He was later Senior Legal Assistant to the

Commonwealth Relations Office The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations was a British Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the United Kingdom's relations with members of the Commonwealth of Nations (its former colonies). The minister's department was the Com ...

, and played a major role in the suspension of the People's Progressive Party Government of Cheddi Jagan in

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

(Guyana) in 1953. He was elected president of the London Athletic Club. Abrahams was the first Jew to hold the post. Abrahams was married to Ruth Bowman and they had two children, Valerie and

Anthony Abrahams Anthony Claud Walter Abrahams (16 June 1923 – 22 April 2011) was a British Jewish barrister and educationalist who established CfBT Education Trust, one of the most important educational charities to be founded in post-World War II Britain. Hi ...

References

External links

T. Perera, 'The Bracegirdle Saga: 60 Years After', ''What Next'', No 5 1997''Abrahams, Sidney 'Solly, Jews in Sport Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Sidney 1885 births 1957 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at Bedford Modern School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple English male long jumpers Jewish male athletes (track and field) Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics English Jews Chief Justices of British Ceylon Chief justices of Tanzania People of British Ceylon 19th-century British people Knights Bachelor Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Uganda Protectorate judges Gold Coast (British colony) people Tanganyika (territory) judges Attorneys General of the Gold Coast (British colony) Attorneys General of the Uganda Protectorate Attorneys-General of the Sultanate of Zanzibar Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Welsh descent Civil servants in the Commonwealth Relations Office

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links