Sir Alfred John Ainley (10 May 1906 – 19 January 1992) was a British colonial judge, who served as Chief Justice of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei, and of Kenya.

Biography

He was born in England and educated at

St Bees School St Bees School is a co-educational fee-charging school, located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees, England. In 1583, it was founded by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a free grammar school for boys. The school remain ...

, Cumbria and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

. He became a Magistrate in the Gold Coast in 1935. During the second World War he served as a lieutenant in the

Gold Coast Regiment The Ghana Regiment is an infantry regiment that forms the main fighting element of the Ghanaian Army (GA). History The regiment was formed in 1879 as the Gold Coast Constabulary, from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to p ...

, active in the African theatre, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1941 for leading his platoon under fire in an attack against an enemy armoured vehicle. He personally threw grenades at it eventually forcing its capture. After the war he was appointed a

Puisne Judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

in Uganda (1945 to 1955), before spending a term as Chief Justice of the Eastern Region of Nigeria. He was knighted for his services in 1957. In 1959 he was appointed Chief Justice of the United Judiciary of Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei but then transferred back to Africa in 1963 to be

Chief Justice of Kenya The chief justice of Kenya is a public office in the Republic of Kenya established under Article 161 of the country's Constitution as the head of the Judiciary of Kenya. Under Article 163, the chief justice also serves as the president of the S ...

just prior to Kenyan independence in 1964, thereby becoming the first Chief Justice of the independent country. During his time in Kenya he was notable for sentencing Kisilu Mutua to death for conspiring in the murder of

Pio Gama Pinto Pio Gama Pinto (31 March 1927 – 24 February 1965) was a Kenyan journalist, politician and freedom fighter. He was a socialist leader who was key in Kenya's struggle for independence. He was assassinated in 1965, leading many to consider him i ...

, a journalist and freedom fighter. The sentence was later commuted to 35 years imprisonment. He retired in 1968 and moved to live with his wife Mona Sybil in

Watermillock Watermillock is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Matterdale, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is on the western shore of Ullswater, in the English Lake District. I ...

, Cumbria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainley, Andrew John 1906 births People educated at St Bees School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Recipients of the Military Cross Chief justices of Kenya Knights Bachelor 1992 deaths Gold Coast (British colony) judges British Borneo judges Uganda Protectorate judges British Kenya judges Colonial Nigeria judges British judges on the courts of Kenya Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei judges British Army personnel of World War II Royal West African Frontier Force officers