Sir Alastair Granville Forbes (3 January 1908 – August 2001) was a Caribbean-born British colonial civil servant who served with the Colonial Legal Service and ended his career as President of the Courts of Appeal for St Helena, the Falkland Islands and British Antarctic Territories from 1965 until 1988.
Forbes' first overseas posting was to Dominica in the British West Indies in 1936 as a magistrate and government officer, where much of his time was spent compiling an index of the island's laws (his assistant for many years was the barrister (later Dame) Eugenia Charles, who subsequently co-founded the Dominica Freedom Party and in 1980 became the Caribbean's first female prime minister).
After a period as a Crown attorney in the Leeward Islands in 1939, Forbes moved in 1940 to Fiji, where he served progressively as resident magistrate, crown counsel, solicitor general and assistant legal adviser to the Western Pacific High Commission. In the latter capacity he revised and redrafted all the laws of Fiji, for which he was offered (and turned down) a knighthood.
His next tour, beginning in 1947, was to Malaya as a legal draftsman, and in 1950 he was appointed Solicitor General of Northern Rhodesia. The following year he became Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General in Gold Coast (later to become Ghana).
In 1956, he was appointed a puisne judge in Kenya, and the next year he was promoted a Justice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa. He became Vice President of the same court in 1958, and, from 1963 until 1964, he served as Federal Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
He was President of the Court of Appeal for the Seychelles from 1965 until 1976, and for Gibraltar from 1970 until 1983. He served as a member of the panel of chairmen of industrial tribunals from 1965 until 1973, and was President of the Pensions Appeals Tribunals for England and Wales from 1973 until 1980.
Marriageedit
He married Constance Irene Mary Hughes-White in 1936 and was knighted in 1960. The couple had two children: Anne Margaret Banting (née Forbes; b. 1936) and Elizabeth Farrant (née Forbes; 1938 - 2015).[citation needed]
Sourcesedit
Extracted from the obituary of Sir Alastair Forbes, The Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2001
May 08, 2024
alastair, forbes, alastair, granville, forbes, january, 1908, august, 2001, caribbean, born, british, colonial, civil, servant, served, with, colonial, legal, service, ended, career, president, courts, appeal, helena, falkland, islands, british, antarctic, ter. Sir Alastair Granville Forbes 3 January 1908 August 2001 was a Caribbean born British colonial civil servant who served with the Colonial Legal Service and ended his career as President of the Courts of Appeal for St Helena the Falkland Islands and British Antarctic Territories from 1965 until 1988 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Marriage 4 SourcesEarly life editForbes was born in St Kitts where his father Granville Forbes farmed and was educated at Blundell s School in Tiverton and read law at Clare College Cambridge After being called to the Bar by Gray s Inn he joined the Colonial Legal Service in 1932 Career editForbes first overseas posting was to Dominica in the British West Indies in 1936 as a magistrate and government officer where much of his time was spent compiling an index of the island s laws his assistant for many years was the barrister later Dame Eugenia Charles who subsequently co founded the Dominica Freedom Party and in 1980 became the Caribbean s first female prime minister After a period as a Crown attorney in the Leeward Islands in 1939 Forbes moved in 1940 to Fiji where he served progressively as resident magistrate crown counsel solicitor general and assistant legal adviser to the Western Pacific High Commission In the latter capacity he revised and redrafted all the laws of Fiji for which he was offered and turned down a knighthood His next tour beginning in 1947 was to Malaya as a legal draftsman and in 1950 he was appointed Solicitor General of Northern Rhodesia The following year he became Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General in Gold Coast later to become Ghana In 1956 he was appointed a puisne judge in Kenya and the next year he was promoted a Justice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa He became Vice President of the same court in 1958 and from 1963 until 1964 he served as Federal Justice of the Federal Supreme Court of Rhodesia and Nyasaland He was President of the Court of Appeal for the Seychelles from 1965 until 1976 and for Gibraltar from 1970 until 1983 He served as a member of the panel of chairmen of industrial tribunals from 1965 until 1973 and was President of the Pensions Appeals Tribunals for England and Wales from 1973 until 1980 Marriage editHe married Constance Irene Mary Hughes White in 1936 and was knighted in 1960 The couple had two children Anne Margaret Banting nee Forbes b 1936 and Elizabeth Farrant nee Forbes 1938 2015 citation needed Sources editExtracted from the obituary of Sir Alastair Forbes The Daily Telegraph 11 August 2001 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alastair Forbes amp oldid 1161545138, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
