Sir John Curtois Howard KC (15 January 1887 – 19 November 1970) was an English magistrate who was the 27th

Chief Justice of Ceylon The Chief Justice of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head of the judiciary of Sri Lanka and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Established in 1801, the Chief Justice is one of ten Supreme Court justices; the other nine are t ...

. He was appointed in 1939 succeeding the acting Francis Soertsz and was Chief Justice until 1945. He was succeeded by

Arthur Wijewardena Sir Edwin Arthur Lewis Wijewardena, King's Counsel, KC (21 March 1887 – 1964) was the 28th Chief Justice of Ceylon. Educated at Ananda College, Ananda College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, Wijewardena graduated from Univer ...

, also after the acting Francis Soertsz. Howard was born in

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is ...

, to FitzAlan Howard and Edith Thacker. He was educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

. He was called to the bar a year before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and his career was interrupted by six years in the British Army. After the war, he accepted a job in the Colonial Legal Service, serving as Attorney General of Cyprus, Solicitor-General of Nigeria and Attorney-General of the Gold Coast (now Ghana). In 1936, he was promoted to Legal Secretary, Ceylon. After returning to England, from 1953 to 1957, he was chairman of the Police Council for Great Britain. He was recalled by Sir William Fitzgerald as "a strikingly handsome man with a commanding presence." Howard was knighted in the

1942 New Year Honours The 1942 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 30 December 1941.United Kingdom and Britis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, John Curtois 1887 births 1970 deaths Chief Justices of British Ceylon 20th-century Sri Lankan people British expatriates in Sri Lanka 19th-century Sri Lankan people Sri Lankan people of British descent Attorneys General of British Ceylon Attorneys-General of British Cyprus Knights Bachelor Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 20th-century English judges Colonial Legal Service officers Legal Secretary of Ceylon