Sir William Henry Lionel Cox (c. 1844 – November 1921) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as

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 ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Early life

Cox was born in about 1844 in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, the son of physician George B. Cox, and was educated at the Royal College, Mauritius and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was called to the Bar 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 ...

in 1866.

Legal appointments

In 1880, Cox was appointed Substitute Procureur and Advocate General of

, and in August of that year

Puisne Judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the Supreme Court. In August 1886 he became Procureur and Advocate-General, which position he held until his elevation on 8 November 1893 to

He was knighted in 1896. In 1896, Cox denied an application for a writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

to free

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

who was being transported on a Spanish warship back to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

when the ship stopped in

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 ...

Marriages

Cox married first, Lucy Pelte, of Mauritius, who died in 1900; and, secondly, in 1903 in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Elizabeth Cushing Pughe, daughter of Lewis Pughe of

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

Retirement

Cox retired to England in 1906. In 1915, he was living in

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

and was almost blind.

Death

Cox died in

in 1921. A special service was held in the Singapore Supreme Court to remember him.

Street names

Lionel Cox Street in

Curepipe Curepipe () also known as ''La Ville-Lumière'' (The City of Light), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe. ...

, Mauritius and Cox Terrace in

Fort Canning Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan (''Forbidden Hill'' in Malay), is a small hill, about high, in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Sin ...

Park, Singapore are named after Cox.''Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics'', p93

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, W. H. Lionel 1840s births 1921 deaths British Mauritius judges Members of the Middle Temple Chief justices of the Straits Settlements Straits Settlements judges Knights Bachelor Date of birth missing Date of death missing