Sir Hugh Olliviere Beresford Wooding (14 January 1904 – 26 July 1974) was a lawyer and politician from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Legal career

Hugh Wooding was born in Trinidad and Tobago into a family that hailed from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

. In 1914, he was awarded an exhibition to attend

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the secular college is selective and noted for it ...

, and won the island scholarship to study law at 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 ...

in London, being admitted to the Bar in 1927. He returned to Trinidad in 1926 and was called to the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago on 5 July 1927. He worked all over the Caribbean as well as in Trinidad. He became known as "Tiger " from his tenacity in court and would represent poorer people for a minimal fee. In 1937, he was made a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. In 1962, he was appointed the first Chief Justice of the newly independent

Dominion of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

, a post he held until 1968. He was made a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

(QC). He was invested with a knighthood in the

1963 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1963 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to ''The Lon ...

and made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1966. He chaired in 1968 a commission of inquiry into rebellions in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

, concluding that the authors of the uprisings were coloured youth who felt discriminated against by (the predominantly white) police and also felt economically disadvantaged. In 1970, he sat before a committee which examined the legal situation of the Freeport region in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

.Michael Crayton/Gail Saunders
''Islanders in the Stream. A History of the Bahamian People''
Vol. 2, 1998, p. 355.

Political career

From 1941, Hugh Wooding also engaged in politics, and in 1943 was elected mayor of Port of Spain. He was also an active freemason and was involved in the promotion of the arts, as well as supporting, for example, the efforts of cyclists to establish an independent cycling federation. In 1971, he worked in a commission for the reform of the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and was installed as Chancellor of the University of the West Indies on 13 November 1971, serving in that position until his death. Wooding is also considered a pioneer and co-founder of legal education in the West Indian region and the

Hugh Wooding Law School The Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) is a law school in Trinidad and Tobago. History Named for Trinidad and Tobago jurist and politician Hugh Wooding, HWLS is one of three law schools empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to award ...

in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, is named in his honour. In 1969, he was awarded the

Trinity Cross The Trinity Cross (abbreviated T.C.) was the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, between the years 1969 and 2008. It was awarded for: "distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago. It was awarded for gallantry ...

, the then highest medal of Trinidad and Tobago.

Personal life

On 14 January 1928, Wooding married Anne Marie Coussey, a British-educated African from a well-to-do

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

family. She had previously been romantically involved with American poet Langston Hughes in Paris, and they had continued a long correspondence until she married Wooding. Wooding and his wife had four children: Selby (1928–2020), Ambah Rose (1929–2017, who married Max Thomas), Anne (born 1933; who married Garnet Woodham) and Henley (born 1940). Wooding died of a heart attack, aged 70.

References

External links

"The Post-Independence Chief Justices of Trinidad And Tobago"
''Trinidad & Tobago: 50 Years of Independence'', p. 76 *Article based on equivalent article on German Wikipedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Wooding, Hugh Olliviere Beresford, Sir 1904 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago judges Chief justices of Trinidad and Tobago Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Recipients of the Trinity Cross Trinidad and Tobago knights Trinidad and Tobago people of Barbadian descent Trinidad and Tobago politicians Trinidad and Tobago Queen's Counsel