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 t ...

and seventh

Advocate Fiscal of Ceylon The attorney general of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The attorney general is usually a highly respected senior advocate, and is appointed by the ruling go ...

. 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 ...

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

Bray, Berkshire Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead with which it is ...

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 entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

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 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 Sir Anthony Oliphant (17 November 1793 – 9 March 1859) was a Scottish lawyer who was the eighth Chief Justice of Ceylon. Early life and family Oliphant was born in Forgandenny, Perthshire, the third of seven children of Ebenezer Oliphant of Co ...

. 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 the Westminster School on 23 January 1786, and became a king's sch ...

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 politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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 Natal, of Madras, of Ceylon from 1890 to 1895, and of Tasmania from 1901 to 1904. Early life ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, William, Sir 1859 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Chief justices of British Ceylon 19th-century Sri Lankan judges 19th-century Sri Lankan people Sri Lankan people of English descent British expatriates in Sri Lanka 19th-century English 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