Sir Allan George Mossop (30 July 1887 – 14 June 1965) was a British judge of South African origin who served in China. He was the

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

of the British Supreme Court for China from 1933 to 1943.

Early life

Allan Mossop and Atholl MacGregor in Japan 1935

Mossop was born in

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek ( af, Vishoek, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fish ...

, in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

in 1887 and was the seventh son of Joseph Mossop. He was educated at the Kingswood College,

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London. Makhanda is the largest town in the Makana ...

and the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of t ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He then went to university in England attending Pembroke College, Cambridge graduating with an MA and LLB. He was called to the Bar of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

in 1908.

Career

Mossop moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China soon after being called as a barrister and was admitted to practice before the

British Supreme Court for China and Corea The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles ...

in 1909. In 1916, Mossop was appointed the

Crown Advocate Crown advocate is a title used in some former British colonies (and until recently in Britain) for a government prosecutor. In former British Colonies and certain British extraterritorial courts the title is (or was) used by the senior government ...

for

Weihaiwei Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popu ...

when

Hiram Parkes Wilkinson Hiram Parkes "Harrie" Wilkinson, KC (9 June 1866 – 1 April 1935) served as Crown Advocate of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan from 1897 to 1925. He was also Acting Assistant Judge of the British Court for Siam from 1903 to 1905 a ...

, the Crown Advocate for China who had held that position was appointed Judge in

. In 1926 on Wilkinson's retirement as Crown Advocate for China, Mossop was appointed Crown Advocate for China. As Crown Advocate, Mossop was allowed to continue private practice as a barrister.

In December 1933, he was appointed Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China on the retirement of Sir Peter Grain. He was knighted in May 1937.

Closure of Court, Retirement and Death

At the beginning of the Pacific War, on 8 December 1941, Japanese troops occupied the court house of the British Supreme Court in Shanghai. Mossop was interned for 5 months before being

repatriate Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

d to England. His appointment as judge was formally terminated in May 1943 after the

Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China The Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China, or the Sino-British New Equal Treaty, was a bilateral treaty concluded between the British and the Chinese governments in Chungking ( Chongqing) on 11 January 1 ...

was ratified. Mossop returned to China in 1946 as an advisor to the British Embassy in China. He retired in 1947 and returned to his home in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He died on 14 June 1965 in Cape Town.Obituary, ''The Times'', 19 June 1965, p. 10. He was buried in Muizenberg Cemetery, Cape Town.

Early life

Career

Closure of Court, Retirement and Death

References

Further reading