William Hackett (judge)

Sir
William Hackett
2nd Chief Justice of Fiji
In office
1875–1876
Preceded by Sir Charles St Julian
Succeeded by Sir John Gorrie
12th Chief Justice of Ceylon
In office
3 February 1877  1877
Appointed by William Henry Gregory
Preceded by Edward Shepherd Creasy
Succeeded by John Budd Phear
Personal details
Born 1825
Died 1877
Nuwara Eliya
Alma mater Trinity College, Dublin

Sir William Hackett (1825–1877) was an Irish judge who was the second Chief Justice of Fiji and the 12th Chief Justice of Ceylon.

He was the son of Bartholomew Hackett of Cork, Ireland and was educated at Stonyhurst College and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in 1846.[1]

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 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 of the Prince of Wales's Island (Penang Island).[2] He was knighted on his appointment as Recorder and in 1871 was appointed Acting Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements.[1]

After heading up the courts as Chief Justice of Fiji from 1875 to 1876, he was appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon on 3 February 1877, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Edward Shepherd Creasy. 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.[3][4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "General News, 1877". thetablet. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. Recorder was a title given to some judges at the time :Singapore Legal History: The Development of the Court System.
  3. Amerasinghe, A. Ranjit B. (1986). The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka : the first 185 years. Ratmalana: Sarvodaya Book Pub. Services. ISBN 955599000X.
  4. "Overview". Judicial Service Commission Secretariat. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  5. John Ferguson (1996) [1887]. Ceylon in the Jubilee Year (Repr. ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. 254. ISBN 978-81-206-0963-1. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Edward Shepherd Creasy
Chief Justice of Ceylon
1877
Succeeded by
John Budd Phear
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