Hugh Wooding | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hugh Olliviere Beresford Wooding (1904-01-14)14 January 1904 |
| Died | 26 July 1974(1974-07-26) (aged 70) |
| Alma mater | Middle Temple |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 Sons and 2 Daughters |
| Relatives | James Coussey (brother-in-law) |
Sir Hugh Olliviere Beresford WoodingTCCBEPCQC (14 January 1904 – 26 July 1974) was a lawyer and politician fromTrinidad and Tobago.[1]
Hugh Wooding was born in Trinidad and Tobago into a family that hailed fromBarbados.[2] In 1914, he was awarded an exhibition to attendQueen's Royal College, and won the island scholarship to study law at theMiddle Temple in London, being admitted to the Bar in 1927. He returned to Trinidad in 1926 and wascalled to the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago on 5 July 1927.[3] He worked all over the Caribbean as well as in Trinidad. He became known as "Tiger " from his tenacity in court and would represent poorer people for a minimal fee. In 1937, he was made aCBE.
In 1962, he was appointed the firstChief Justice of the newly independentTrinidad and Tobago, a post he held until 1968. He was made aQueen's Counsel (QC). He was invested with a knighthood in the1963 New Year Honours and made a member of thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom in 1966.
He chaired in 1968 a commission of inquiry into rebellions inBermuda, concluding that the authors of the uprisings were coloured youth who felt discriminated against by (the predominantly white) police and also felt economically disadvantaged.[4] In 1970, he sat before a committee which examined the legal situation of theFreeport region in theBahamas.[5]
From 1941, Hugh Wooding also engaged in politics, and in 1943 was elected mayor ofPort of Spain.[3] He was also an active freemason[5] and was involved in the promotion of the arts, as well as supporting, for example, the efforts of cyclists to establish an independent cycling federation.[6]
In 1971, he worked in a commission for the reform of the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and was installed as Chancellor of theUniversity of the West Indies on 13 November 1971,[7] serving in that position until his death.
Wooding is also considered a pioneer and co-founder of legal education in the West Indian region and theHugh Wooding Law School in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, is named in his honour. In 1969, he was awarded theTrinity Cross, the then highest medal of Trinidad and Tobago.
On 14 January 1928, Wooding married Anne Marie Coussey, a British-educated African from a well-to-doGold Coast family.[8] She had previously been romantically involved with American poetLangston Hughes in Paris, and they had continued a long correspondence until she married Wooding.[8] Wooding and his wife had four children: Selby (1928–2020), Ambah Rose (1929–2017, who married Max Thomas), Anne (born 1933; who married Garnet Woodham) and Henley (born 1940; who married Ingrid Granderson).[8]
Wooding died of a heart attack, aged 70.[3]
The young cyclists with help from Sir Hugh Wooding applied to the International Cycling Union (the World body).
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