Sir William Norris (6 July 1795 – 7 September 1859) was the seventh

Chief Justice of Ceylon The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are ...

and seventh Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon. He was born in London, the son of William Norris, who was President of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ar ...

in 1824, and his wife, Hannah Phillips. He was baptised in

Bray, Berkshire Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a large suburban village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead of which it is a suburb. The village is mentioned in th ...

at two weeks old. He studied 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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

and was called to the bar in 1827. He moved to India in 1829 to practice there. He was knighted by letters patent in 1835 and appointed a puisne judge in Ceylon. He was promoted to Chief Justice of Ceylon on 27 April 1836, succeeding Charles Marshall, holding the post until 1837. He was succeeded by Anthony Oliphant. Norris was appointed despite

William Rough Sir William Rough (c.1772–1838) was an English lawyer, judge and poet. Life The only son of William Rough of London, he was born on 21 August, in 1772 or 1773. He was admitted at Westminster School on 23 January 1786, and became a king's scholar ...

having served on the bench since 1831, as acting puisne justice, senior puisne justice and as acting chief justice. His son was the author William Edward Norris. His daughter Anne Grace Norris married the future

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Arthur Havelock Sir Arthur Elibank Havelock, (7 May 1844 – 25 June 1908) was a career British colonial governor, serving as Governor of Sierra Leone from 1880, of KwaZulu-Natal Province, Natal, of Madras, of Ceylon from 1890 to 1895, and of Tasmania from 19 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, William, Sir 1859 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Chief Justices of British Ceylon 20th-century Sri Lankan people 19th-century Sri Lankan people Sri Lankan people of English descent British expatriates in Sri Lanka 19th-century British people Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon Attorneys General of British Ceylon Knights Bachelor British Ceylon judges 1795 births British people in colonial India