Sir Thomas Lynedoch Graham (5 May 1860 – 7 May 1940) was a South African

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and politician.

Early life and education

Graham was born in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, which had been founded by his ancestor, Colonel John Graham, in 1812. He was educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown 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 refounded ...

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 ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1885.

Legal and political career

Returning to South Africa, he became an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

of the Supreme Court of Cape Colony. In 1898, he

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

and was elected to the Cape Colony Legislative Council, the Upper House of the Parliament of Cape Colony. Soon afterwards he was appointed

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in Sir Gordon Sprigg's third government. However, in June 1898 a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

was passed in the government, which resigned. Two years later, Sprigg was back in government, with Graham as Colonial Secretary. In 1902 he became Attorney-General again and from June to August he acted as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

while Sprigg attended the Coronation of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

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 ...

. In 1904 Sprigg's government fell again and Graham was appointed a judge. In 1913 he was appointed Judge-President of the Eastern Districts Local Division of the

Supreme Court of South Africa The Supreme Court of South Africa was a superior court of law in South Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was t ...

, with his seat in his hometown. He held this post until his retirement in 1937. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1920 New Year Honours.

Sport participation

In September 1882, Graham participated in the Oxford and Cambridge Challenge Cup tennis tournament, played on grass in Oxford, where he lost in the first round to Robert Wallace Glen Lee Braddell, the son of Sir Thomas Braddell. In 1891 he won the South African Doubles Lawn Tennis Championship. Graham was also a keen cricketer and represented the Cape Town based, Western Province Cricket Club, as a fast bowler.

Footnotes

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 8 May 1940 {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Thomas 1860 births 1940 deaths 19th-century South African lawyers 20th-century South African judges 20th-century South African lawyers Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown South African judges Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony People from Makhanda, Eastern Cape South African knights South African male tennis players South African Queen's Counsel