Allan Mossop

Sir Allan George Mossop (30 July 1887 – 14 June 1965) was a British judge of South African origin who served in China. He was the Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China from 1933 to 1943.

Sir

Allan Mossop
Chief Judge, British Supreme Court for China
In office
1933–1943
Preceded byPeter Grain
Succeeded byCourt abolished
British Crown Advocate for China
In office
1925–1933
Preceded byHiram Parkes Wilkinson
Succeeded byVictor Priestwood
Personal details
Born(1887-07-30)30 July 1887
South Africa
Died14 June 1965(1965-06-14) (aged 77)
Cape Town, South Africa

Early life
Mossop and Atholl MacGregor, Chief Justice of Hong Kong, at the Fujiya Hotel in Japan 1935

Mossop was born in South Africa in 1887 and was the seventh son of Joseph Mossop. He was educated at the Kingswood College, Grahamstown and the South African College, Cape Town. He then went to university in England attending Pembroke College, Cambridge graduating with an MA and LLB. He was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple in 1908.[1]

Career
Mossop with US Consul General Clarence E. Gauss in Shanghai in 1939

Mossop moved to Shanghai, China soon after being called as barrister and was admitted to practice before the British Supreme Court for China and Corea in 1909.

In 1916, Mossop was appointed the Crown Advocate for Weihaiwei when Hiram Parkes Wilkinson, the Crown Advocate for China who had held that position was appointed Judge in Weihaiwei. In 1926 on Wilkinson's retirement as Crown Advocate for China, Mossop was appointed Crown Advocate for China.[2] As Crown Advocate, Mossop was allowed to continue private practice as a barrister.

Mossop (far right) at a birthday Party for H.E. Arnhold in Shanghai in 1939. Also present G.W. Boosevain, Asst Judge Penrhyn Grant Jones and Ellis Hayim

In December 1933, he was appointed Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China on the retirement of Sir Peter Grain.[3] He was knighted in May 1937.[4]

Closure of Court, Retirement and Death

At the beginning of the Pacific War, on December 8, 1941, Japanese troops occupied the court house of the British Supreme Court in Shanghai. Mossop was interned for 5 months before being repatriated to England.[5] His appointment as judge was formally terminated in May 1943 after the Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China was ratified.[6]

Mossop returned to China in 1946 as an advisor to the British Embassy. He retired in 1947 and returned to his home in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa. He died on 14 June 1965 in Cape Town.[7] He was buried in Muizenberg Cemetery, Cape Town.[8]

Further reading
  • Clark, Douglas (2015). Gunboat Justice: British and American Law Courts in China and Japan (1842-1943). Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books., Vol. 1: ISBN 978-988-82730-8-9; Vol. 2: ISBN 978-988-82730-9-6; Vol. 3: ISBN 978-988-82731-9-5

References
  1. Obituary, The Times, June 19, 1965, p10.
  2. North China Herald, January 9, 1926, p26
  3. October 25, 1933, p131 and North China Herald, February 21, 1934
  4. North China Daily News, 12 May 1937
  5. Report Relating to His Britannic Majesty’s Supreme Court in Japanese Occupied China, dated September 24, 1942, FO369/2719
  6. China Order in Council, 1943, London Gazette, 25 May 1943, p2331
  7. Obituary, The Times, June 19, 1965, p10.
  8. Findagrave.com memorial for Mossop
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