Sir Vincent Ernest Quénet (14 December 1906 – 3 February 1983) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n-born

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

n judge.

Biography

Quénet was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, and was educated at Worcester Boys' High School and the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. On graduation he was called to the Bar of the Cape Provincial Division of the

Supreme Court of South Africa The Supreme Court of South Africa was a superior court of law in South Africa from 1910 to 1997. It was made up of various provincial and local divisions with jurisdiction over specific geographical areas, and an Appellate Division which was th ...

. He joined the Public Service of South Africa as a prosecutor, before entering private practice in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in 1936. He became a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1947, and was called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

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 entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1949. He was appointed a Judge of the

High Court of Southern Rhodesia The High Court of Southern Rhodesia was a Southern Rhodesian court of record. It was established in 1899 and ceased to exist in 1980 on the establishment of Zimbabwe. Throughout its history, it functioned both as a trial court and an appellate co ...

in 1952. In 1961 he was appointed to the Federal Supreme Court of the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

. With the dissolution of the Federation, he returned to the Southern Rhodesian bench in 1964 as the first Judge President of the Appellate Division of the High Court of Southern Rhodesia. He retired due to ill health in 1970. In 1975–76, he chaired a commission of inquiry on racial discrimination. Quénet married Gabrielle Price, daughter of the Honourable Norman Price, a South African judge, in 1938; they had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quenet, Vincent South African Knights Bachelor University of Cape Town alumni 1906 births 1983 deaths People from Worcester, South Africa 20th-century South African lawyers South African Queen's Counsel Members of the Middle Temple South African civil servants Rhodesian judges South African emigrants to Rhodesia