Sir Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt, KCSI, PC (20 July 1862 – 1 March 1945) was a British barrister and judge, remembered in part for his presidency of the sedition committee that bore his name, created in 1918 by the

imperial government The name imperial government () denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the empero ...

to subjugate and control the independence movement in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, especially

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

and the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. The committee gave rise to the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law, applied during the British India period. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919 ...

, an extension of the Defence of India Act 1915.

Early life

Sidney Rowlatt was born in 1862 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and brought up in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean. His father was Arthur Rowlatt, sent out by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

to take a post at the Bank of Egypt, and his second wife Amelia, the Alexandria-born daughter of Sidney Terry, merchant. His parents married on 9 May 1860 at the Anglican church in Alexandria. Her English grandparents, John and Sarah Friend, had moved to Egypt in 1825, and the family maintained working ties there for well over a century. Sidney Rowlatt was the eldest son and had several siblings, two of whom stayed in Egypt. Sir Frederick Rowlatt became Governor of the National Bank and Charles Rowlatt became Director of Customs Administration. Fred's daughter Mary wrote a memoir of the five generations, ''A Family in Egypt'', which was published in 1956, a few years after the revolution which marked the end of British rule in the country. Sidney Terry appears to have been the grandfather of

Sidney Sonnino Sidney Costantino, Baron Sonnino (; 11 March 1847 – 24 November 1922) was an Italian statesman, 19th prime minister of Italy and twice served briefly as one, in 1906 and again from 1909 to 1910. In 1901, he founded a new major newspaper, '' Il ...

, making Sidney Rowlatt a cousin of Italy's nineteenth prime minister. The Rowlatt children grew up in Alexandria, living above the Bank building most of the year, and decamping to the nearby beach of Ramleh during the hottest months, as his mother's family had done for generations. In 1868 the Rowlatts built a house there, one of the first buildings in the resort, on a road later renamed after Arthur Rowlatt. They also owned a Nile boat named the ''Ablah'', normally moored in Cairo. Sidney Rowlatt and his brothers were sent to Britain to preparatory and public schools. He attended

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

in Edinburgh and then

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he was a distinguished

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

scholar. His younger brother John Friend Rowlatt followed him to Cambridge and acted as the non-rowing president at

The Boat Race 1892 The 49th Boat Race took place on 9 April 1892. The Boat Race is an annual Rowing (sport)#Side by side, side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of University of Oxford, Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge along the ...

. After graduation, Sidney Rowlatt became a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of his college and taught classics for a while at Eton, where he was popular with his students.

Career

Rowlatt decided to take up the law 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 ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1886. He joined the

Oxford circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

but made slow progress,

devilling Devilling is the custom of more senior self employed barristers/advocates making use of their junior’s services to complete briefs belonging to the more senior barrister/advocate, usually without the knowledge of the attorney. Not to be confuse ...

for Robert Finlay. When William Danckwerts took silk in 1900, the post of junior counsel to the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

fell vacant and Finlay recommended Rowlatt. Then, in 1905 Finlay, now

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 ...

, gave him the post of Treasury devil, a role in which Rowlatt excelled with his energy and affability. He became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of the Inner Temple in 1906 and later its Treasurer. Rowlatt was appointed Recorder of Windsor and, in 1912, a judge of the

King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

of the High Court, where among other matters he heard cases in the Revenue List. He was a courteous and scholarly judge, quick to see a point and unafraid to make up his mind. In 1918 he chaired the inquiry into alleged " Criminal conspiracies connected with revolutionary movements in India", the Rowlatt Committee. The inquiry led to the controversial “

” in 1919. This unpopular legislation provided for stricter control of the freedom of press, arrests without warrant, indefinite detention without trial, and juryless ''in camera'' trials for proscribed political acts. The accused were denied the right to know the accusers and the evidence used in the trial.Vohra, Ranbir (2001)
''The Making of India: A Historical Survey''
2nd Ed. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. . p. 126. Indian nationalists called for protest against the Act, which led to an unprecedented response of unrest and protests. In the Punjab, this led to the

Jallianwala Bagh massacre The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (), also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, during the annual Vaisakhi, Baisakhi fair to protest aga ...

, also known as the Amritsar Massacre. Accepting the report of the Repressive Laws Committee, the

repealed this act in March 1922.The history of British India: a chronology
John F. Riddick, 2006 Rowlatt was known for the many tax cases he heard, particularly between 1923 and 1932, giving clear, concise and authoritative judgements, many of which are still cited today. As a judge of the King's Bench Division, Rowlatt also heard murder trials, including that of George Stagg, who was found guilty of the murder of

Aston Villa F.C. Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...

footballer Tommy Ball in November 1923. Rowlatt retired in 1932 and was sworn of the Privy Council, under an arrangement brokered with Sir Claud Schuster whereby Rowlatt delayed his retirement for a year in exchange for a privy councillorship. As a result, he often in the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, where his vote was crucial in the Labour Conventions Reference, which ended the Canadian "New Deal". The Canadian backlash was such that it indirectly led to the end of Privy Council appeals from Canada. Rowlatt's decisions in Australian cases were also badly received in that country. He chaired the Royal Commission on Betting (1932–33) and during World War II sat as chairman of the General Claims Tribunal.

Personal life

Rowlatt married Elizabeth Hemmingway in 1890 and the couple had four sons and two daughters. His son John Rowlatt was also a lawyer, who specialised in drafting tax legislation. Media correspondent Justin Rowlatt is Sidney's great-grandson; in February 2015, Justin became the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's South Asia correspondent, posted in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, and in an article in August 2017 analysed his great-grandfather's drafting of the Rowlatt Act and the events it generated in the context of post-1947 India-UK relations.

Honours

* Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (1918).

Notes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 3 March 1945, ''p.''7, col E * * . * .

External links

*, archived at . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlatt, Sidney Arthur Taylor 1862 births 1945 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English barristers 20th-century English judges Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Hindu–German Conspiracy Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Fettes College Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council British expatriates in Egypt People from the Khedivate of Egypt