Sir Phillip James Macdonell (10 January 1873 – 15 December 1940) was the 25th

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 ...

. He was appointed in 1930 succeeding

Stanley Fisher Sir Stanley Fisher (12 February 1867 – 28 May 1949) was a British colonial judge who was the 24th Chief Justice of Ceylon. Fisher was born in Marylebone into the Knapp-Fisher family, a London legal dynasty. He was the son of George Henry Kna ...

and was Chief Justice until 1936. He was succeeded by

Sidney Abrahams Sir Sidney Solomon Abrahams (11 February 1885 – 14 May 1957), nicknamed Solly, was a British Olympic athlete and 26th Chief Justice of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He was the older brother of famed Olympian Harold Abrahams. Early life Born in Birmi ...

Career

Macdonell was a scholar at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the mi ...

, was Bacon Scholar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1896, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

there in January 1900. He was * war correspondent for "The Times", 1900–1901; * Judge of the High Court, Northern Rhodesia, 1918–1927; * President of the

West Indian Court of Appeal The West Indian Court of Appeal (WICA) was a court which served as the appellate court for the British colonies of Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, Barbados, the Leeward Islands, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent from 1919 until the c ...

Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago The Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago is the highest judge of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presides over its Supreme Court of Judicature. He is appointed by a common decision of the President of Trinidad and Tobago, president, the Prim ...

1927–30 *

, 1930–36; Privy Counsellor, 1939 * Knighted, 1925; * Retired, 1936. * President of the Balovale Commission (Northern Rhodesia, 1939–41). He died in Southport in 1940 and was buried in Girthon Old Churchyard, Kirkcudbrightshire He had married Alexandrina Sutherland Campbell.

References

British war correspondents 1873 births 1940 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Chief Justices of British Ceylon 19th-century British people 20th-century Sri Lankan people 19th-century Sri Lankan people British expatriates in Sri Lanka Chief justices of Trinidad and Tobago Northern Rhodesia judges British India judges British Trinidad and Tobago judges The Times journalists West Indian Court of Appeal judges {{SriLanka-bio-stub