Sir Charles Perrin Skerrett (2 September 1863 – 13 February 1929) was the fifth

Chief Justice of New Zealand The chief justice of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kaiwhakawā Tumuaki o Aotearoa) is the head of the New Zealand judiciary, and presides over the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The chief justice of New Zealand is also the chief justice of Tokelau. Befo ...

, from 1926 to 1929. He was born in India. His father Peter Perrin Skerrett was born in Ireland and descended from the Skerretts of Finavera in

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

; originally the Skerretts were one of the fourteen ''

Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

''. He was a sergeant in the Army in India; as he lacked a private income needed by officers. The family moved to New Zealand when Charles was 12. He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

. He joined the Post Office, then the Treasury, then to the Department of Justice as a clerk in the Wellington Magistrates' Court. He was articled to Buller, Lewis & Gully and admitted to the bar in 1884. He went into private practice, and was associated with the Wellington law firms of Skerrett and Wyllie and Chapman Tripp. In 1907 when the first King's Counsel was appointed in New Zealand Skerrett was one of the first to take silk. From 1918 to 1926 he was President of the New Zealand Law Society. In 1922, in his role as president of the

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

Association, Skerrett was given the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

by Captain Prickett of HMS ''Chatham'' as a thank you to New Zealand for its hospitality to the ship and crew. On 1 February 1926 he was appointed Chief Justice, and was created a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in the

1927 New Year Honours The New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1926. The recipients of honours are ...

. He left for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1929, and died at sea on the ''Port Denison''. He was unmarried.

References

*''Chapman Tripp & Co: The First 100 Years'' by Ross Gore (1975). See ''The Skerretts of Finavera'' pages 52–65.

External links

Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skerrett, Charles 1863 births 1929 deaths Chief justices of New Zealand People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) High Court of New Zealand judges New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 19th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand King's Counsel 20th-century New Zealand judges