Sir Henry Herbert Juta (12 August 1857 – 16 May 1930) was a South African judge who served as Speaker of the Cape

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

, Judge President of the

Cape Provincial Division The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...

and judge of the South African Appellate Division.

Early life and education

Juta attended the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...

in Cape Town from 1868 to 1874, where he matriculated with distinction. He obtained a BA degree in 1876 and then went to 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 degr ...

, gaining a LLB with honours. He became a member of 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 ...

in January 1880.

Career

Juta returned to Cape Town and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

on 14 September 1880. He had a busy practice and also served as an examiner for the University of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1892 he served as an acting judge in Griqualand West and in 1893 he entered politics. He served as MLA for

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...

from 1893 to 1898, and briefly in 1894, as

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 ...

for the second government of

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 ...

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Bri ...

. He also took

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

in 1893 and in 1896 became speaker of the legislative assembly. He was knighted in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours. In 1899 he became MLA for

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

, a constituency he represented until 1907. In late 1902 he visited the United Kingdom with his family. Juta was appointed Judge President of the

in September 1914 and in 1920 he was appointed Judge of the Appeal Court. He resigned in 1923 and settled with his wife in Europe.

Family

Juta was born in South Africa to

Jan Carel Juta Jan Carel Juta (23 March 1824 – 7 April 1886) was a Dutch-South African publisher, bookseller and brother-in-law of Karl Marx. He was born in Zaltbommel, Netherlands. He married his wife Louise Juta on 5 June 1853 in a civil ceremony in Trie ...

and Louise Marx and baptised into the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

. He was a nephew of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. His parents together founded the

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Juta and Company. In 1883 he married Helen Lena Tait and they had four daughters and one son. The eldest daughter Helen (1886–1952) married the English composer

John David Davis John David Davis (22 October 1867 – 20 November 1942), often known as J D Davis, was an English composer, born in Edgbaston, near Birmingham.Leach, Gerald. ''British Composer Profiles'' (2012), p. 73 Career Although born into a musical family, ...

in 1919.

References

1857 births 1930 deaths Cape Colony politicians Knights Bachelor Speakers of the House of Assembly of the Cape Colony South African judges {{Africa-law-bio-stub