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Jacobus de Wet
Jacobus de Wet
15th Chief Justice of Ceylon
	In office; 31 May 1882 – 29 May 1883
Appointed by	James Robert Longden
Preceded by	Richard Cayley
Succeeded by	Bruce Burnside
Personal details
Born	25 August 1838; Cape Town, Cape Colony
Died	19 April 1900 (aged 61); Eastbourne, East Sussex, England
Spouse	Emma Susannah Fuller
Children	Helen Frances de Wet Davies (Adopted)
Alma mater	Leiden University; University of London

Sir Jacobus Petrus de Wet (25 August 1838 – 19 April 1900) was the 15th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed on 31 May 1882 succeeding Richard Cayley and was Chief Justice until 29 May 1883. He was succeeded by Bruce Burnside.^[1]^[2]^[3]

De Wet was born to Johannes Carolus and Catharina Aletta (née Zeederberg) de Wet, he was the second of their seven surviving children. His mother died young when de Wet was only twelve years old. In 1851 his father married Magdalena Elisabeth (née Deneysen). De Wet came from a well to do Dutch speaking Cape family.^[4]

De Wet attended Leiden University however did not complete his studies, instead obtained his BA degree at the University of London. He was called to the Inner Temple, London, as a barrister-at-law in June 1863. Shortly after being admitted as a barrister, he returned to the Cape and six months later, on 14 December 1863, he was also admitted to the Cape Bar.

In April 1882 de Wet and Emma sailed for Colombo, Ceylon, via Calcutta, India. De Wet assumed his duties as Chief Justice four months after Sir Richard Cayley had left for England, on 31 May 1882.^[4]

He was knighted in the 1883 Birthday Honours.^[5]

References

^ "Overview". Judicial Service Commission Secretariat. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
^ "WET, Sir Jacobus Petrus DE". Who's Who & Who Was Who. A & C Black. Retrieved 7 January 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ John Ferguson (1996) [1887]. Ceylon in the Jubilee Year (Repr. ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 254. ISBN 978-81-206-0963-1. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Schulze, W.G. "One J.P. de Wet South Africa's First Judicial Export" (PDF). Sabinet.co.za. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
^ "No. 25253". The London Gazette. 24 July 1883. p. 3699.