Thomas Hutton-Mills, born Thomas Hutton Mills (13 June 1865 – 4 March 1931) was a lawyer and nationalist leader in the Gold Coast. He is often referred to as Thomas Hutton-Mills Sr. to distinguish him from his son, the lawyer and diplomat Thomas Hutton-Mills Jr. (1894–1959).

Life

Thomas Hutton Mills was born in

James Town, Accra Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British Gold Coast, British Fort James (Ghana), James Fort and Dutch Gold Coast, Dutch ...

, the son of Emma Bannerman, the second daughter of Governor James Bannerman,"Thomas Hutton-Mills (Born 1865-Died 1931) As a statesman", in Magnus J. Sampson, ''Gold Coast Men of Affairs (Past and Present)'', with an Introduction by J. B. Danquah, London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1937; 1969 reprint, pp. 150-54. and John Edward Hutton Mills, a James Town merchant. He was educated at the

Wesleyan School Wesleyan School is a private school, private College-preparatory school, college-preparatory Nondenominational Christianity, nondenominational Christian school located 20 miles north of Atlanta in the suburban city of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, ...

in Accra and

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

, the Wesleyan High School in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the United Kingdom.Michael R. Doortmont, ''The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony'', Brill, 2005, p. 261. He is not, however, listed in ''Alumni Cantabrigienses''. After starting work as a commercial clerk, he was a government clerk in the office of the Queen's Advocate, until dismissed for his participation in the protests of September 1886.John Parker, ''Making the Town: Ga state and society in early Colonial Accra'', p. 191. In 1886, he married Florence Nanka-Bruce, sister of

Frederick Nanka-Bruce Frederick Victor Nanka-Bruce (9 October 1878 – 13 July 1953) was a physician, journalist and politician in the Gold Coast. He was the third African to practise orthodox medicine in the colony, after Benjamin Quartey-Papafio and Ernest James ...

; after her early death he married another sister, Emma Nanka-Bruce. After working as chief clerk in the office of his uncle Edmund Bannerman, a barrister and newspaper proprietor, Hutton-Mills travelled 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 ...

in 1891 to study law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, returning to practise in Accra on being

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 1894. In 1897 he was prominent in debate over the Town Council and Compulsory Labour Ordinances. In 1898 he was the first African barrister to be elected to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, serving on the council from 1898 to 1904, and again from 1909 to 1919.Daniel Miles McFarland, ''Historical Dictionary of Ghana'',

Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 1995, p. 98. He was a member of the Accra Town Council from 1905 to 1911. The main adviser to Kojo Ababio, he championed the rights of people in the Alata quarter of Accra. He was the first President of the

National Congress of British West Africa The National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), founded in 1920, was one of the earliest nationalist organizations in West Africa, and one of the earliest formal organizations working toward African emancipation. It was largely composed o ...

in 1920.

References

1865 births 1931 deaths 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Mfantsipim School alumni People educated at Harrow School Alumni of the University of Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian people of Scottish descent 19th-century Ghanaian lawyers Lawyers from Gold Coast (British colony) 19th-century Ghanaian politicians {{Ghana-politician-stub