Sir William Conrad Reeves (

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

1838 – Barbados, 8 January 1902),'REEVES, Hon. Sir William Conrad’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., 1920 – 2007 (online ed. Oxford University Press, December 2007) was a nineteenth century

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Biography

Reeves was born in Barbados, to Thomas Phillipps Reeves and Peggy Phyllis. He represented the Parish of

, within the

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 as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

. He was patronised, with funds collected by the black community, to stay in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to study 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 ...

, which he left in 1863. He subsequently became

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 ...

of St Vincent. He was appointed Solicitor-General of Barbados in 1875. He was Attorney General of Barbados from 1882 to 1886. In 1883 he was admitted to the

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. He became the first black Chief Justice of Barbados in 1886. He served in this position until his death. In 1889, Reeves 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 ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, and thus became the first black man to be knighted by a British sovereign.

Family

Reeves married, in 1868, Margaret Rudder, who was the daughter of J. T. R. Rudder. They had one daughter.

References

Footnotes References

External links

The House of Assembly, Parliament of Barbados
1838 births 1902 deaths Barbadian lawyers Barbadian judges Solicitors General of Barbados Attorneys-General of the Colony of Barbados Chief justices of Barbados Members of the House of Assembly of Barbados People from Saint Joseph, Barbados British Windward Islands judges Colony of Barbados judges Colony of Barbados people 19th-century Barbadian lawyers 20th-century Barbadian lawyers {{law-bio-stub