Sir Richard Cayley (22 April 1833 – 5 April 1908) was a British lawyer who served as the 14th

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 ...

and 14th

Queen's Advocate of Ceylon The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan government's chief law, legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Attorney General is usually a highly respected Senior Advocate, and is appointed by the rulin ...

. Richard Cayley was born on 22 April 1833, the son of Edward Cayley and Frances Twopenny. He was educated at

Stamford School Stamford School is an independent school for boys in Stamford, Lincolnshire in the English public school tradition. Founded in 1532, it has been a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference since 1920. With the girls-only Sta ...

between 1842 and 1851 before going up to

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 ...

in 1851. On 26 July 1873 he was appointed Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Ceylon, and between 9 September 1875 to 1 February 1876 he functioned as Senior Puisne Justice. After serving for a period as Queen's Advocate, he succeeded Sir

John Budd Phear Sir John Budd Phear (9 February 1825 - 1905) was a judge and author who was the 13th Chief Justice of Ceylon. He was appointed on 18 October 1877 succeeding William Hackett and was Chief Justice until 1879. He was succeeded by Richard Cayley. W ...

as Chief Justice. As such he heard before the Supreme Court the case of ''Jayawardena v. Queen's Advocate''. Up to the time of Jayawardena's case, the right to sue

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

had the character of a "taken for granted law", but here the serving Queen's Advocate argued that suing the Crown was an "attempt to impugn the royal prerogative". In giving his ruling on this case, Chief Justice Cayley said, "To hold at this date, for the first time, that a practice, which has so long been sanctioned by the Courts and acquiesced in by the Government, is bad in law,...would ead towidespread confusion and ...in many cases to injustice." In 1882 he returned to England, initially on ill-health leave, and then retiring. He was knighted in June that year. He was succeeded as Chief Justice by Jacobus de Wet. After retirement he held the office of

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the counties of Northamptonshire and Rutland. He was a member of the original committee responsible for the foundation, in 1889, of the Old Stamfordian Club for

old boys The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...

of his alma mater. The club remains a thriving concern to this day. He died on 5 April 1908 aged 74. Cayley married on 17 April 1866 Sophia Wilson, daughter of David Wilson, a member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of British Ceylon, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first f ...

. They had several children, including a daughter Adeline Matilda Cayley who married in 1902 William Sidney Hargreaves and Dorothy Mary Cayley, the distinguished mycologist who identified the viral origin of tulip fire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayley, Richard 1833 births 1908 deaths People educated at Stamford School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Chief Justices of British Ceylon Puisne Justices of the Supreme Court of Ceylon 19th-century British people 19th-century Sri Lankan people 20th-century Sri Lankan people Sri Lankan people of British descent Attorneys General of British Ceylon

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...