Sir Ivo Charles Clayton Rigby (2 June 1911 – 19 April 1987) was a BritIsh lawyer and judge. He was Chief Justice of Hong Kong in the early 1970s.

Early life

Rigby was born on 2 June 1911 in

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

, Norfolk. He was the only son of James Philip Clayton Rigby. He was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford. He read for the bar at 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 Wal ...

and was called in 1932. He practised on the South Eastern Circuit, London and Norwich until 1935. He married Agnes Bothway of Norwich on the Island of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

in 1937. They divorced in 1948 and he remarried to Kathleen Nancy Jones.

Legal career

In 1935, he was appointed a Police Magistrate in Bathurst,

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

in 1935. In 1941, he was appointed a

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Advo ...

in Palestine. Between 1945 and 1948 he served as President of the District Court of Palestine, at

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

. He then served as the Assistant Judge in Nyasaland (now

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

) between 1948 and 1954. In 1948 he was transferred to

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

where between 1954 and 1956 he was President of the

Sessions Court A Sessions Court or even known as the Court of Sessions Judge is a court of law which exists in several Commonwealth countries. A Court of Session is the highest criminal court in a district and the court of first instance for trying serious offe ...

, Kuala Lumpur. In 1956, he was appointed Puisne Judge in

, based in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

. In 1961, he was appointed Senior Puisne Judge in Hong Kong. He acted as Chief Justice on a number of occasions. In 1970, he was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong replacing

Sir Michael Hogan ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

. He was knighted in 1964.

Military Appointments

Rigby served in the Territorial Army in England between 1931 and 1935. He also served in the

Palestine Volunteer Defence Force __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, Jerusalem from 1941 until it was disbanded in August 1943.

Other Interests

Rigby was President of the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Chairman of the Hong Kong Squash Association. He also owned a number of racehorses in Hong Kong including, "Mabrouk" and "Inshallah".

Retirement

Rigby retired to England in 1973. In England, he was appointed a

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and a Metropolitan

Stipendiary Magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

Death

Rigby died on 19 April 1987 at the age of 75 in

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

.Solicitors' Journal, Vol. 131, 1987, p. 590.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigby, Ivo Charles Clayton 1911 births Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong British Hong Kong judges Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford 1987 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Mandatory Palestine judges Nyasaland judges Gambia Colony and Protectorate judges British Malaya judges Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)