Memoir of Sir Nathaniel Nathan

<plain_text><page sequence="1">Memoir of Sir Nathaniel Nathan 1843-1916 ROBERT F. NATHAN Nathaniel Nathan was the eldest son of Jonah Nathan (1810-1886) by his first marriage, with Olivia Josephs, his first cousin. On his mother's side he was the grandson of Michael Josephs, of K?nigsberg, Prussia, a distinguished Hebrew scholar who had settled in England. He was educated at University College School, London (1851-1858), and University College, becoming a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1863. He was called to the Bar in 1866 and after practising in Birmingham went out to Jamaica as Resident Magistrate at St. Thomas as from 1 April 1888. In 1891 he became a Resident Magistrate for Kingston and also appears to have acted as a Judge of the Supreme Court at Kingston. In 1893 he was appointed the Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago, becoming the Attorney-General in 1898. He held this post until his retirement from the colony in May 1903. At various times during the years 1901-1903 Nathaniel Nathan was Acting Chief Justice and he was so acting at the time of the Water Riots of 23 March 1903, when the mob stormed the Red House during a session of the Legislative Council and set it on fire. The ringleaders, however, were not brought to trial until Nathaniel Nathan had left the colony for good. In the Honours List published on 9 Novem? ber 1903 the distinction of Knight Bachelor was conferred on him on his retirement. Sir Nathaniel had been much esteemed in Trinidad and his judgments do not appear to have been called in question. He was recognised as a judge of exceptional ability, to quote the words of a colleague who knew him well. He founded in Trinidad the local branch of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. On his retirement Sir Nathaniel Nathan lived for a time at Edenbridge, Kent, and after the death of his wife (in 1906) in London. She was Helen Turner, the eldest daughter of Thomas Turner, of Doncaster. He died in London on 18 February 1916. Sir Nathaniel was a man of the world and had a fund of amusing anecdotes. His hobby was the collecting of china. He was half-brother to a distinguished family, the children of Jonah Nathan's second marriage, with Miriam Jacobs, the daughter of Lewis Jacobs, solicitor, with all of whom he was on excellent terms. Perhaps the best known of these was the late Sir Matthew Nathan, who had a distinguished career as Colonial Governor in various parts of the British Empire. Sir Nathaniel was the author of a book called Economic Heresies, published by Archibald Constable in 1909.</page></plain_text>