William Brandford Griffith (judge)

Sir William Brandford Griffith, by Lafayette, 1933

Sir William Brandford Griffith, CBE (9 February 1858 – 8 January 1939) was a British legal writer and colonial judge who was the Chief Justice of the Gold Coast from 1895 to 1911.^[1][2]

The eldest son of William Brandford Griffith, Governor of the Gold Coast from 1885 to 1895, he was educated at University College London, graduating B.A. in 1880, and was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1881. In 1884 he married Eveline Florence Elizabeth Nevins, daughter of Penrose Nevins.^[3] He was a magistrate in Jamaica before his appointment as Chief Justice of the Gold Coast.

He was knighted in 1898.^[4]

Publication

• Kenneth James Beatty: Human leopards. An account of the trials of human leopards before the Special Commission Court. With a note on Sierra Leone, past and present. With a preface by Sir William Brandford Griffith. London, H. Rees, 1915. [Repr. 1978 New York, AMS Press: ISBN 0-404-12006-7]

References

1. "Gold Coast Cannibals". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 4 June 1913. p. 16. Retrieved 30 August 2016. Sir William Brandford Griffith, the Chief Justice of the Gold Coast Crown colony since 1895, has arrived in London.
2. "Colonial Service Gossip". The Colonies and India. London. 27 April 1895. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 30 August 2016. The appointment of Chief Justice of the Gold Coast Colony continues to occupy the attention of many officials in search of promotion. It was at one time thought that probably the important office would be given to Mr. Justice Francis Smith, the Senior Puisne Judge of the Gold Coast, who for the past eight years has held that office, previous to which he was Chief Magistrate of the Gambia for eight years. Other names have been mentioned as probable candidates, but it is very unlikely that Sir Joseph Hutchinson's successor will be selected from the present West Coast legal officials. If rumour be true, the Secretaiy of State has gone far afield to find a successor, in fact a gentleman at present in the West Indies, and at one time connected with the Gold Coast, is spoken of as the selected one.' That gentleman is Mr. W. Brandford Griffith, a son of the ex-Governor of the Gold Coast. Mr. Griffith entered the Colonial Service ten years ago as a District Commissioner of the Gold Coast, previous to which he had acted as Queen's Advocate for several months. He has acted also as a Puisne Judge of Lagos, and compiled the Ordinances of the Colony in 1887. In the following year he was transferred to Jamaica as a Resident Magistrate, and has acted as Attorney-General of that Colony. Should the rumour prove correct, Mr. Griffith may congratulate himself on his rapid promotion.
3. Joseph Foster, The pedigrees of Jowitt, formerly of Churwell, Yorks, and now of Harehills, Leeds, and the families connected with them, 1890
4. Shaw, William Arthur. (1970). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day &c. Vol. I. Clearfield. p. 402. ISBN 978-0-8063-0443-4.

External links

• Portrait of Sir William Brandford Griffith at National Portrait Gallery, London.