George Gerard Sutton KC (17 June 1880 – 27 December 1955) was a South African judge and Judge President of the

Cape Provincial Division The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...

of the Supreme Court.

Early life

Sutton was born on the Farm, Klip River in the

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...

district, the second son of

the Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Joseph George Sutton and Catharina Benedicta Sutton (née Reitz). The Rev Sutton became the headmaster of

Dale College Dale College Boys' High School (Simply often known as ''Dale College'') is a State school, public English language, English medium high school for boys situated in the town of Qonce in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; It is one of the ...

in June 1890. George was educated at Dale College and also at the

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

. He then continued as a Scholar of

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, and achieved a double first in the Law

Tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

Career

After graduating in 1903, he was called to the

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 an ...

, London in June 1903. Later in 1903 he returned to South Africa and started practice at the Cape Bar in October. In 1921 he took

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

and was appointed a

puisne Puisne (; from Old French ''puisné'', modern ''puîné'', "later born, younger" (and thence, "inferior") from late Latin ''post-'', "after", and ''natus'', "born") is a legal term of art obsolete in many jurisdictions and, when current, used main ...

judge at the

in February 1929. From September 1946 until he retired in May 1948, he was Judge-President of the Cape.

Personal life

Sutton married Agnes Gertrude Watermeyer on 29 December 1909 in Cape Town. Agnes was the sister of

Ernest Frederick Watermeyer Ernest Frederick Watermeyer, PC, QC (12 October 1880 – 18 January 1958), was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1943 to 1950. Watermeyer was born in Graaff-Reinet in 1880. He was educated at Stellenbosch Gymnasium, Bath College and Gonv ...

, who was

Chief Justice of South Africa The Chief Justice of South Africa is the most senior judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Constitutional Court and head of the judiciary of South Africa, who exercises final authority over the functioning and management of all the c ...

. George and Agnes had five children, three daughters and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, George 1880 births 1955 deaths South African judges 20th-century South African judges Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge South African Queen's Counsel Alumni of Dale College Boys' High School