Sir Jacobus Petrus de Wet (25 August 1838 – 19 April 1900) was the 15th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed on 31 May 1882 succeeding

Richard Cayley Sir Richard Cayley (22 April 1833 – 5 April 1908) was a British lawyer who served as the 14th Chief Justice of Ceylon and 14th Queen's Advocate of Ceylon. Richard Cayley was born on 22 April 1833, the son of Edward Cayley and Frances Twopenny ...

and was Chief Justice until 29 May 1883. He was succeeded by

Bruce Burnside Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart Burnside (26 July 1833 – 10 August 1909) was the 16th Chief Justice of Ceylon and 25th Queen's Advocate of Ceylon. Career He served as the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas from November 1866 to Feb ...

. de Wet was born to Johannes Carolus and Catharina Aletta (née zeederberg) de Wet, he was the second of their seven surviving children. His mother died young when de Wet was only twelve years old. In 1851 his father married Magdalena Elisabeth (née Deneysen). de Wet came from a well to do Dutch speaking Cape family. de Wet attended

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

however did not complete his studies, instead obtained his BA degree at the

University of London 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 ...

. He was called to 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 ...

, London, as a barrister-at-law in June 1863. Shortly after being admitted as a barrister, he returned to the Cape and six months later, on 14 December 1863, he was also admitted to the Cape Bar. In April 1882 de Wet and Emma sailed for

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, Ceylon, via

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. de Wet assumed his duties as Chief Justice four months after Sir Richard Cayley had left for England, on 31 May 1882. He was knighted in the

1883 Birthday Honours The 1883 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the Queen, and wer ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wet, Jacobus de 1838 births 1900 deaths Chief Justices of British Ceylon Knights Bachelor Cape Colony people People from British Ceylon