Thomas Hutton-Mills, born Thomas Hutton Mills (13 June 1865 – 4 March 1931) was a lawyer and nationalist leader in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. He is often referred to as Thomas Hutton-Mills Sr. to distinguish him from his son, the lawyer and diplomat

Thomas Hutton-Mills Jr. Thomas Hutton-Mills (14 November 1894, AccraMichael R. Doortmont, ''The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony'', Brill, 2005, p. 266 ...

(1894–1959).

Life

Thomas Hutton Mills was born in

James Town, Accra Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Dutch Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast. These districts ...

, the son of Emma Bannerman, the second daughter of Governor

James Bannerman James Bannerman (12 March 1790 – 18 March 1858) was a lieutenant and acting governor of the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) from 4 December 1850 to 14 October 1851. Life James Bannerman was born a native of the Gold Coast in 1790 to a Fanti mother a ...

,"Thomas Hutton-Mills (Born 1865-Died 1931) As a statesman", in Magnus J. Sampson, ''Gold Coast Men of Affairs (Past and Present)'', with an Introduction by

J. B. Danquah Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, lawyer, and one of the founding fathers of Ghana. He played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana, which was former ...

, London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1937; 1969 reprint, pp. 150-54. and John Edward Hutton Mills, a James Town merchant. He was educated at the

Wesleyan School Wesleyan School is a private college-preparatory nondenominational Christian school located 20 miles north of Atlanta in the suburban city of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1963 and has existed on its current grounds ...

in Accra and

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

, the Wesleyan High School in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in the United Kingdom.Michael R. Doortmont, ''The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony'', Brill, 2005, p. 261. He is not, however, listed in ''Alumni Cantabrigienses''. After starting work as a commercial clerk, he was a government clerk in the office of the Queen's Advocate, until dismissed for his participation in the protests of September 1886.John Parker, ''Making the Town: Ga state and society in early Colonial Accra'', p. 191. In 1886, he married Florence Nanka-Bruce, sister of

Frederick Nanka-Bruce Frederick Victor Nanka-Bruce (9 October 1878 – 13 July 1953) was a physician, journalist and politician in the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast. He was the third African to practise medicine, orthodox medicine in the colony, after Benjam ...

; after her early death he married another sister, Emma Nanka-Bruce. After working as chief clerk in the office of his uncle

Edmund Bannerman Edmund Bannerman (1832 – 17 April 1903) was a journalist, newspaper proprietor, solicitor and man of public affairs in the British colony of the Gold Coast. He was one of many members of the Bannerman family who flourished in the 19th-century Go ...

, a barrister and newspaper proprietor, Hutton-Mills travelled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1891 to study law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, returning to practise in Accra on being

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 ...

in 1894. In 1897 he was prominent in debate over the Town Council and Compulsory Labour Ordinances. In 1898 he was the first African barrister to be elected to the Legislative Council, serving on the council from 1898 to 1904, and again from 1909 to 1919.Daniel Miles McFarland, ''Historical Dictionary of Ghana'',

Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...

, 1995, p. 98. He was a member of the Accra Town Council from 1905 to 1911. The main adviser to Kojo Ababio, he championed the rights of people in the Alata quarter of Accra. He was the first President of the

National Congress of British West Africa The National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), founded in 1917, was one of the earliest nationalist organizations in West Africa, and one of the earliest formal organizations working toward African emancipation. It was largely composed of a ...

in 1920.

References

1865 births 1931 deaths 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Mfantsipim School alumni People educated at Harrow School Alumni of the University of Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian people of Scottish descent 19th-century Ghanaian lawyers {{Ghana-politician-stub