Sir Percy Alexander McElwaine KC (21 September 1884 – 24 October 1969) was a lawyer and judge who served, ''inter alia'', as Attorney General of Fiji and

Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements The chief justice of Singapore is the presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest post in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the president, chosen from the candidates recommended by the prime minister. The in ...

Early life

McElwaine was born in

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and was educated at

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He was admitted to the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

bar in 1908 and the

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

bar in 1913. In 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 ...

, he was a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the Fourteenth

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County D ...

Marriages

McElwaine married Evelyn Annie Forsaith Macnaught at St Mary Le Park in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, on 17 June 1914. She died in the

1918 influenza epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

on 10 November 1918. She was pregnant at the time of her death. His second wife, Margaret, was a popular socialite during their time in Singapore. They had two sons, David Eric and Ian Douglas.

Legal, political and judicial career

McElwaine was made acting Solicitor General of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

on 15 October 1925, and a nominated official (i.e., ''ex officio'') member of the Legislative Council of Kenya on 28 October. After being appointed a Senior

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 ...

British Kenya British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

on 1 January 1926, McElwaine served another spell in the Legislative Council from 11 April 1927, when he was appointed to fill in for Frederick Gordon Smith during his absence. The appointment was evidently renewed on 11 May, but terminated on 4 August that year, on the permanent appointment of Thomas Dundas Hope Bruce. McElwaine was subsequently Attorney General of Fiji from 1927 to 1931 under

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Sir Eyre Hutson and Sir Arthur Fletcher. In 1930, he moved to Singapore to take up the position of Deputy Public Prosecutor. He went on to become Attorney General of the Straits Settlements on 21 April 1933. He remained in this office until 10 August 1936. He then became

(

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 ...

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

) from 1936 to 1946. He was knighted in 1939. His photograph is in a display at the former

Supreme Court of Singapore The Supreme Court of Singapore is a set of courts in Singapore, comprising the Court of Appeal and the High Court. It hears both civil and criminal matters. The Court of Appeal hears both civil and criminal appeals from the High Court. The ...

, now called The Arts House. While Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements, McElwaine was unsympathetic to the idea of appointing "Asiatics", as he called Asians, to senior judicial posts. "I am doubtful whether any Asiatic is suitable for the post of Registrar of the Supreme Court, whatever his professional qualifications be," he declared on 29 August 1938. During the Second World War, he was imprisoned for six months in

Changi Prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. History First prison Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside t ...

and afterwards in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

(where he wrote notes on his life which are now kept at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

) and

Mukden Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the prov ...

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. He died on 24 October 1969 in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Picture of McElwaine in Chongqing after his release from internment
{{DEFAULTSORT:McElwaine, Percy 1884 births 1969 deaths People from County Roscommon People educated at Campbell College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish officers in the British Army Irish people of World War I Royal Ulster Rifles officers British Army personnel of World War I Straits Settlements judges Attorneys General of the Colony of Fiji Attorneys-general of Fiji Chief Justices of the Straits Settlements Attorneys-General of Singapore Ethnic minority members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Straits Settlements people British expatriates in Kenya World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan British people imprisoned abroad British expatriates in Fiji British Kenya people Colony of Fiji people Expatriate judges from Ireland