Sir Atholl MacGregor, Chief Justice of Hong Kong

Sir Alasdair Duncan Atholl MacGregor KC (4 June 1883 – 30 October 1945) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney General in a number of British colonies in the early 20th century. He was Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1933 to 1945.

MacGregor's given names

MacGregor generally used the Christian name Atholl. In some sources it is spelt Athol. However, official announcements, such as his appointments and honours published in the London Gazette, refer to him, as would be expected, by his full name of Alasdair Duncan Atholl MacGregor.[1]

Early life

MacGregor was born in 1883, the son of Henrietta Forrester and her husband, Robert Roy MacGregor. His father worked for the Exchequer. The family lived at 55 Grange Loan in south Edinburgh.[2]

Atholl attended the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with an MA, followed by Lincoln College, Oxford, where he obtained a BA.[3] He was called to the bar of Lincoln's Inn in 1909.[4]

He married, in 1919, Gertrude Mary, the youngest daughter of Mr R. Brandon Tasker of Marino, Caernarfon in North Wales. They had no children.

Appointments

MacGregor served as assistant district commissioner of Southern Nigeria from 1912 to 1914. In 1914 he was appointed a police magistrate at Lagos and served in that position for 8 years. In 1922, he was appointed as Crown counsel and solicitor-general of Nigeria and served in that position until 1926. He was transferred to Trinidad in 1926 and then to Kenya in 1929.[5] In both places, he served as the attorney-general. He was made a King's Counsel in 1927 while serving in Trinidad.[6]

MacGregor and Allan Mossop, Judge of the British Supreme Court for China, at the Fujiya Hotel, Japan 1935

In 1933 MacGregor was appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong[7] in succession to Joseph Horsford Kemp. As Chief Justice he was reported to "have won golden opinions on the bench where he has displayed abilities of a high order, whilst socially also he has shown himself to be a man of marked charm of personality."[8] In his capacity as Chief Justice of Hong Kong, he also sat as a member of the full court of the British Supreme Court for China in Shanghai.[9]

MacGregor was knighted in 1935.[10] In 1937, he was appointed chairman of a committee to study restoration of allowances to Malayan civil servants.[11] He was made a Commander of the Grand Priory in the British Realm of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in 1940.[12]

Internment by Japanese during World War II

MacGregor was interned by the Japanese in Stanley Internment Camp from 1941 to 1945. During the time he continued to act as Chief Justice for the internees, including granting a number of divorces.[13]

MacGregor survived the war, but contracted beriberi in the camp.[14] His last official act as Chief Justice was to swear in Franklin Charles Gimson as acting Governor of Hong Kong following the Japanese surrender.[15]

Death

Memorial to Sir Atholl MacGregor, Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh

MacGregor was carried on to the first hospital ship, the Highland Monarch,[16] leaving Hong Kong for England. He died on 30 October 1945 before reaching the Suez and was buried at sea.[17]

He is memorialised on his parents' grave in Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh.

References

  1. ↑ See, for example, MacGregor's appointment as a King's Counsel, London Gazette, 11 November 1927, p7184
  2. ↑ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1883-84
  3. ↑ The Weekly Notes, Volume 43, p. 336
  4. ↑ The Straits Times, 22 June 1937, Page 17
  5. ↑ The Times, 17 November 1945
  6. ↑ London Gazette, 11 November 1927, p7184
  7. ↑ London Gazette, 6 October 1935, p6425
  8. ↑ The Straits Times, 22 June 1937, Page 17
  9. ↑ "Hong Kong Legal & Law Community | Latest Law News | LexisNexis Hong Kong: Hong Kong Lawyer: At Issue: Hong Kong's judicial gunboats". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  10. ↑ London Gazette, 16 July 1935, p4601
  11. ↑ The Straits Times, 22 June 1937, Page 17
  12. ↑ London Gazette, 21 June 1940, 3777
  13. ↑ "Hong Kong Legal & Law Community | Latest Law News | LexisNexis Hong Kong: Hong Kong Lawyer: At Issue: Hong Kong's judicial gunboats". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  14. ↑ G Emerson, Hong Kong internment, 1942 to 1945: life in the Japanese civilian camp at Stanley, pp. 25–26
  15. ↑ Steve Tsang, A Modern History of Hong Kong, p. 138
  16. ↑ [https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sirpaulchater/genealogy/Gallery_john_theophilus_bagram+Personal.html Passenger manifest for Highland Monarch
  17. ↑ G Emerson, Hong Kong internment, 1942 to 1945: life in the Japanese civilian camp at Stanley, pp. 25–26
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