Percy McElwaine

Sir Percy Alexander McElwaine KC (21 September 1884 – 24 October 1969) was a lawyer and judge who served, inter alia, as Attorney General of Fiji and Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements.

The Honourable Sir Percy Alexander McElwaine KC
13th Attorney General of Fiji
In office 1927–1931
Monarch	George V
Governor	Sir Eyre Hutson Sir Arthur Fletcher
Preceded by	Sir Kenneth MacKenzie
Succeeded by	Charles Gough Howell
11th Attorney-General of Singapore
In office 21 April 1933 – 10 August 1936
Monarch	George V Edward VIII
Governor	Sir Cecil Clementi Sir Shenton Thomas
Preceded by	Walter Clarance Huggard
Succeeded by	Newnham Arthur Worley
13th Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements
In office 1936–1946
Monarch	Edward VIII George VI
Governor	Sir Shenton Thomas
Preceded by	Walter Clarance Huggard
Succeeded by	Cecil William Victor Carey As Chief Justice of Singapore
Personal details
Born	21 September 1884 Roscommon, Ireland
Died	24 October 1969 (aged 85) Devon, England
Nationality	British subject
Spouse(s)	1. Evelyn Annie Forsaith Macnaught 17 June 1914 – 1918 (her death) 2. Margaret McElwaine
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	Trinity College, Dublin
Military service
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Royal Irish Rifles

Early life

McElwaine was born in Roscommon, Ireland, and was educated at Campbell College, Belfast and educated at Trinity College Dublin. He was admitted to the Irish bar in 1908 and the Alberta bar in 1913. In the First World War he served as a temporary Lieutenant in the Fourteenth Royal Irish Rifles.[1]

Marriages

McElwaine married Evelyn Annie Forsaith Macnaught at St Mary Le Park, Battersea, London, on 17 June 1914.[2] She died in the 1918 influenza epidemic on 10 November 1918. She was pregnant at the time of her death.[3] He later remarried; his second wife, Margaret, was a popular socialite during their time in Singapore.[4] They had two sons, David Eric and Ian Douglas.[5]

Legal, political, and judicial career

McElwaine was made Acting Solicitor General of Kenya on 15 October 1925,[6] and a Nominated Official (i.e., ex officio) Member of the Legislative Council of Kenya on 28 October.[7][8]

After being appointed a Senior Crown Counsel in British Kenya on 1 January 1926,[9] McElwaine served another stint in the Legislative Council from 11 April 1927, when he was appointed to fill in for Frederick Gordon Smith during his absence.[10] The appointment was evidently renewed on 11 May, but terminated on 4 August that year, on the permanent appointment of Thomas Dundas Hope Bruce.[11]

McElwaine subsequently served as Attorney General of Fiji from 1927 to 1931 under Governors Sir Eyre Hutson and Sir Arthur Fletcher. In 1930, he moved to Singapore to take up the position of Deputy Public Prosecutor.[12] He went on to become Attorney General of the Straits Settlements on 21 April 1933. He remained in this office until 10 August 1936. He then became Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca, and Singapore) from 1936–1946. During this time, he was knighted in 1939. His photograph is featured in a display at the former Supreme Court of Singapore, now called The Arts House.

While Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements, McElwaine was unsympathetic to the idea of appointing "Asiatics", as he called Asians, to senior judicial posts. "I am doubtful whether any Asiatic is suitable for the post of Registrar of the Supreme Court, whatever his professional qualifications be," he declared on 29 August 1938.[13]

During World War II he was imprisoned for 6 months in Changi Prison and afterwards in Taiwan (where he wrote notes on his life which are now kept at the Imperial War Museum in London), and then Mukden in Manchuria.

He died on 24 October 1969 in Devon, at the age of 85.

External links

• Picture of McElwaine in Chongqing after his release from internment

References

1. "Personalities of Singapore's High Court". The Straits Times. 30 July 1939. p. 17. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
2. "London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 forPercy Alexander McElwaine". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
3. "Lieutenant Percy McElwaine". The Western Front: The Irishmen Who Fought in World War One. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
4. "The weight lifter and three-time Miss Singapore great-grandma". Contented. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
5. "UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 forPercy Alexander McElwaine". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
6. "Appointments". Kenya Gazette. 21 October 1925. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
7. "Legislative Council. Appointment". Kenya Gazette. 25 November 1925. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
8. "List of Members as at 31st October 1925". Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard) 1925. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
9. "Promotion". Kenya Gazette. 7 April 1926. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
10. "Government Notice No. 214. Legislative Council. Appointment". Kenya Gazette. 13 April 1928. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
11. "Government Notice No. 421. Legislative Council. Appointment". Kenya Gazette. 9 August 1927. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
12. "Personalities of Singapore's High Court". The Straits Times. 30 July 1939. p. 17. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
13. Radics, George Baylon. "Singapore: A 'Fine' City: British Colonial Criminal Sentencing Policies and its Lasting Effects on the Singaporean Corporal State". Santa Clara Journal of International Law, Volume 12, Issue 2. Retrieved 25 September 2015.