John Lucie-Smith
Sir John Lucie-Smith | |
|---|---|
| Chief Justice of Jamaica | |
| In office 1869–1883 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Bryan Edwards |
| Succeeded by | Sir Adam Gibb Ellis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1825 Demerara, British Guiana |
| Died | 9 July 1883 (aged 57–58) West Worthing, Sussex |
| Spouse |
Marie van Waterschoodt
(m. 1851; died 1883) |
| Relations | Euan Lucie-Smith (grandson) |
| Children | John Barkley Lucie-Smith Alfred Lucie-Smith |
| Parent(s) | John Lucie Smith Martha Bean |
Sir John Lucie-Smith III, CMG (1825 – 9 July 1883) was a British Guyanese lawyer who served as Chief Justice of Jamaica.[1][2]
Early life
He was born in 1825 in Demerara, British Guiana. He was the son of lawyer John Lucie-Smith Jr., (1795–1844)[3] and Martha Bean (1805–1880). Among his siblings were sister, Martha Agnes Jean Lucie-Smith (who married George Smith Bascom), and brother, Sir William Frederick Haynes-Smith, who variously served as Attorney General of British Guiana, Governor of Antigua and Barbuda and the Bahamas, and High Commissioner of Cyprus.[4] His father lived in Georgetown and had a plantation in Vreed en Hoop.[5]
His paternal grandparents were John Lucie-Smith Sr. and Anna Agnes (née McLaurin) Lucie-Smith. His maternal grandparents were Charles Bean of Richmond, Surrey,[6] and Magdalena Susanna van der Linde.[7][8]
Career
Lucie-Smith trained for the law at the Middle Temple in London, where he was called to the bar in 1849. He returned to practise as a lawyer in British Guiana and was appointed Solicitor-General of the country in 1852.[9] In 1855, he was appointed Attorney-General of British Guiana, serving until 1859.[10]
Appointed Chief Justice of Jamaica in 1869 he was awarded CMG in the 1869 Birthday Honours and knighted in 1870.[11]
Personal life
On 1 March 1851 he married Marie van Waterschoodt (1836–1915), the eldest daughter of Jean B. van Waterschoodt. Together, they were the parents of:
- John Barkley Lucie-Smith (1852–1915), the Postmaster General of Jamaica from 1905 to 1915;[12] he married Catherine Peynado Burke, the granddaughter of Samuel Constantine Burke, in 1884.[13]
- Sir Alfred Van Waterschoodt Lucie-Smith (1854–1947),[14] also a colonial judge;[15] he married Rose Alice Aves, seventh daughter of Edward Leopold Aves in 1885.[16] After her death, he married Mary Meta Ruth Palmer Ross, a daughter of Sir David Palmer Ross, in 1901.[17][18][19]
He died at Chipton, in West Worthing, Sussex on 9 July 1883.[20]
Descendants
Through his son Alfred, he was a grandfather of John Lucie-Smith, who also served as a judge and was Chief Justice of Sierra Leone.[18]
Through his son John, he was a grandfather of Euan Lucie-Smith, who was one of the first mixed-heritage infantry officers in a regular British Army regiment, and the first killed in World War I.[21][22]
References
- ^ Cundall, Frank. (1915) Historic Jamaica. London: Institute of Jamaica. pp. xviii-xix.
- ^ "No. 8012". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 December 1869. p. 1541.
- ^ "Summary of Individual | John Lucie Smith junior". www.ucl.ac.uk. Legacies of British Slavery. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ Hutchinson, John. A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars: With Brief Biographical Notices. p. 228.
- ^ "BRITISH GUIANA. Counties of Demerary and Essequebo". The London Gazette: The Appointed Organ for All Announcements of the Executive. 1844,7/12. H.M. Stationery Office: 2462. 1844. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ Burke, Bernard (1901). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. Harrison and Sons. p. 1819. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "Summary of Individual | Charles Bean". www.ucl.ac.uk. Legacies of British Slavery. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ Begbie, Tikwis A. "British Guiana Colonists Index "L"". www.vc.id.au. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "No. 21354". The London Gazette. 31 August 1952. p. 2361.
- ^ Kelly's Handbook to the Upper Ten Thousand for ...: Containing about Twenty Thousand Names of the Titled, Landed and Official Classes. Kelly and Company. 1878. p. 539. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "No. 8038". The Edinburgh Gazette. 4 March 1870. p. 249.
- ^ Jarvis, SP (October 2014). "Postmasters of Jamaica" (PDF). www.jamaicaphilately.info. Encyclopaedia of Jamaican Philately. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ Horrie, Clare; Hillman, Rachel (29 September 2022). Diverse Histories: A source book for teaching Black, Asian and minority ethnic histories at Key Stage 3, in association with The National Archives. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-80199-052-3. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "Alfred Van Waterschoodt Lucie-Smith, Sir". www.ttlawcourts.org. The Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "British Guiana Colonists Index "L"".
- ^ "Marriage Notices". The Times. 15 September 1885.
- ^ "Marriages". The Times. No. 36553. London. 6 September 1901. p. 1.
- ^ a b Who's Who (1947), p. 1693
- ^ Dod's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland, for ...: Including All the Titled Classes. S. Low, Marston & Company. 1912. p. 23. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. 13 July 1883. p. 1. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, Ginny (22 October 2020). "First black British officer of First World War was Eastbourne student". www.eastbourneherald.co.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Wyndham-Quin, W. H. (2005) [1898]. The Yeomanry Cavalry of Gloucestershire and Monmouth. Golden Valley. ISBN 0-9542578-5-5.