Henry Blackall

Sir Henry Blackall

Sir Henry William Butler Blackall QC was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney General of two British colonies in the mid 20th Century and served as Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago and Chief Justice of Hong Kong. His last position before retirement was as President of the West African Court of Appeals.

Early life

Blackall was born on 19 June 1889. He was the son of Henry Blackall, Garden Hill, County Limerick.[1]

He was educated at Stonyhurst College. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Laws (1st place) from Trinity College, Dublin. He was called to Irish Bar in 1912.

He served in World War I from 1914 to 1918.

Legal appointments

In 1919, he was appointed Crown Counsel in Kenya and a member of the Legislative Council in 1920.

In 1923, he was appointed Crown Counsel in Nigeria. He served in Nigeria until 1931 and acted as solicitor general for various periods. He then served as Attorney General in Cyprus from 1932 to 1936 and then in the Gold Coast from 1936 to 1943. He was made a Queen's Counsel while serving in Cyprus.

In 1943 he was appointed Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago and President of the West Indian Court of Appeal.

At the end of World War II, in 1946, he was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong replacing Sir Atholl MacGregor. In Hong Kong he presided over a treason trial of a Japanese-Canadian, Inoue Kanao, who had served in the Japanese army. Inoue had originally been charged with war crimes before the British War Crimes Tribunal, but his case was transferred to the Supreme Court when he was found to be Canadian.[2]

In 1948, he was appointed President of the West African Court of Appeal.

Retirement

Blackall retired in 1951 and in the 1970s was living in Cyprus.[3]

He was conferred an Honorary LLD by Dublin University.[4]

He died in 1981.

References

  1. ↑ This and other biographical information from Blackall's entry in Who's Who 1956.
  2. ↑ Casual slaughters and accidental judgments: Canadian war crimes – Page 175
  3. ↑ http://www.thepeerage.com/p27375.htm
  4. ↑ Wigs and guns: Irish barristers in the Great War p118
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