Sir William Bartholomew Hackett (1824 – 17 May 1877) was an Irish judge who was the second

Chief Justice of Fiji The chief justice is Fiji's highest judicial officer. The office and its responsibilities are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2013 Constitution of Fiji. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister Prime Mi ...

and the 12th

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 t ...

. He was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Bartholomew Hackett. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating in 1846. He became a member of the Irish Bar on the Munster circuit, was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1851 and practiced mainly at the Chancery Bar. In October, 1861 he was appointed Queen's Advocate in

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 ...

acting as Chief Justice until confirmed in the position in April, 1863. The following year he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Gold Coast. In 1866 he moved to south-east Asia to be

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of the Prince of Wales's Island (Penang Island).

was a title given to some judges at the time
Singapore Legal History: The Development of the Court System
He was knighted on his appointment as Recorder and in 1871 was appointed Acting

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 ...

. After heading up the courts as

from 1875 to 1876, he was appointed

on 3 February 1877, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of

Edward Shepherd Creasy Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (12 September 1812 – 17 January 1878) was an English historian and jurist. Life He was born the son of a Land Agent in Bexley, Kent, England and educated at Eton College (where he won the Newcastle Scholarship in ...

. He remained Chief Justice for only a few months as he died in 1877 of cholera while in office. He was succeeded by

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, William 1825 births 1877 deaths People from County Cork People educated at Stonyhurst College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Chief Justices of British Ceylon 19th-century British judges 19th-century Sri Lankan people British Ceylon judges Knights Bachelor Sri Lankan people of Irish descent Chief justices of Fiji Colony of Fiji judges Straits Settlements judges Deaths from cholera