John Smalman Smith (23 August 1847 – 1913) was a British judge who served as Chief Justice of the Colony of Lagos in 1889 and as Vice President of the

Royal African Society The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. The RAS is a not-for-profit membership organisation based in London. In addition to producing its jour ...

."Sir John Smalman Smith"
Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 12, No. 47 (Apr., 1913), pp. 309-311, Published by: Oxford University Press His judicial work contributed to the growth of Nigerian law in the closing years of the nineteenth century.

Life

Smith was born on 23 August 1847 the son of

Samuel Pountney Smith Samuel Pountney Smith JP (2 November 1812Obituary. Date stated to be his birthday. – 5 November 1883) was an English architect who practised in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Smith was a native of Munslow, where he was baptised on 17 De ...

, an architect and Mayor of Shrewsbury. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. He was called to the bar in 1872 and joined the

Oxford Circuit The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

. Later on, he was a junior counsel to the

Society of Architects The Society of Architects was formed in 1834 and continued until 1925. At that time Fellows and Associates comprised two distinct classes of membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). They were respectively entitled to use th ...

. In 1883, Smith was appointed as a

Puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Eastern Province of the

Gold Coast colony The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...

with Lagos as the centre of the district. During his tenure the court expanded its office on Tinubu Square. In 1886, Lagos was made a separate colony and Smith became judge of the Vice Admiralty Court, he later became the Chief Justice in 1889. Some of his notable cases during the end of the nineteenth century include Voigt and Co v Yesufu Bada, Glassie v Leigh, Omoniregun v Sadatu and Olawoyin v Coker. In the Olawoyin v Coker and Sadatu cases, the judgement dealt with interpretations of Yoruba customary laws in the ownership of land and family house.Elias, T. O. (1956). Makers of Nigerian law. London: Hazell Watson & Viney. P. 9-12

References

{{authority control 20th-century English judges Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century English judges Gold Coast (British colony) judges