Sir Fielding Clarke (23 February 1851 – 30 July 1928) was a British colonial
barrister, civil servant and jurist. He served as
Chief Justice of
Fiji,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
.
Early life
Clarke was the fourth son of Henry Booth Clarke and his wife Isabella. He married in 1888 Mary (May) Milward Pierce, the daughter of Mr Justice
Timbrell Pierce D.L.
Education
Clarke was educated in
Switzerland and then returned to England to attend
King's College London and
London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
(LLB). On 12 November 1872 he was admitted to
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
and in 1876 was called to the bar of the Middle Temple.
Career
After being called to the Bar, Clarke practised on the North Eastern Circuit.
In 1881, he embarked on career as a civil servant and jurist in various British colonies. In that year, he was appointed
Attorney General of Fiji in 1881 and served in that position until 1885. He acted as
Chief Justice of Fiji
The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister
Prime Mi ...
and Chief
Judicial Commissioner, Western Pacific from 1882 to 1883 and in 1884. In 1885 he was appointed
Chief Justice of Fiji
The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister
Prime Mi ...
& Chief
Judicial Commissioner, Western Pacific. He served in that position until 1889.
In 1889, he was appointed
Puisne Judge
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
, of the
Supreme Court of Hong Kong.
In 1892 he was appointed
Chief Justice of Hong Kong succeeding
Sir James Russell.
Clarke was
knighted in 1894 while
Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
In 1896 he was appointed as
Chief Justice of Jamaica and served in that position until 1911 when he retired. He moved to
Southchurch
Southchurch is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. England. In 1911 the parish had a population of 3954.
History
In 824 AD, a Saxon thegn, Leofstan pr ...
, Essex and later lived in
Stifford
Stifford is an area and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock, Essex, England. The traditional parish of Stifford is divided by the A13 trunk road into two communities known respectively as North and South Stifford. In 1931 t ...
, Essex.
In retirement, he was appointed, in 1916, to the Appeal Tribunal for the
County of Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
created under the
Military Service Act 1916
The Military Service Act 1916 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War to impose conscription in Great Britain, but not in Ireland or any other country around the world.
The Act
The Bill which became ...
which introduced conscription.
Death
Clarke died on 30 July 1928 in Essex, England.
[The Daily Gleaner, 15 August 1928, p1]
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Fielding
1851 births
1928 deaths
Alumni of King's College London
Attorneys General of the Colony of Fiji
Attorneys-general of Fiji
British expatriates in Fiji
British expatriates in Hong Kong
British expatriates in Jamaica
British expatriates in Switzerland
British Hong Kong judges
Chief judicial commissioners for the Western Pacific
Chief justices of Fiji
Chief justices of Jamaica
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong
Colony of Fiji judges
Colony of Jamaica judges
Knights Bachelor
Lawyers awarded knighthoods
Members of the Middle Temple
19th-century Jamaican judges