Leonard Knowles
{{Short description|Chief Justice of an independent Bahamas}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Leonard Joseph Knowles
| image =
| office1 = President of the Senate of the Bahamas
| primeminister1 = Roland Symonette
Lynden Pindling
| term_start1 = 1964
| term_end1 = 1972
| predecessor1 = George W. K. Roberts
| successor1 = Gerald Cash
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 15 March 1916
| birth_place =
| death_date = 23 September 1999
| death_place =
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater =
}}
Sir Leonard Joseph Knowles, CBE (15 March 1916 – 23 September 1999){{cite web |date=15 January 2004 |title=Leonard Joseph Knowles |url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8281932 |accessdate=1 January 2015 |publisher=Find A Grave}} was the first Chief Justice of an independent Bahamas.
Early life and education
Knowles was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and was educated at Queen's College, Nassau before going to King's College London{{Cite news |date=16 August 1939 |title=Gray's Inn Exhibitioner |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/795177697 |work=Liverpool Daily Post |pages=4}}{{Cite news |date=16 February 1955 |title=She is Disappointed: Husband will meet the Princess; Wife too Late |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/797055378 |access-date=9 May 2024 |work=Liverpool Echo |pages=9}} where he took an LLB in law in 1937. In 1935, he joined Gray's Inn in London and was called to the bar in 1939.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} Knowles worked on Northern Circuit in Liverpool. In 1939, be married Harriet Hughes in Liverpool.{{Cite news |date=8 July 1939 |title=Bride's Head-dress of White Shells |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/799021300 |access-date=9 May 2024 |work=Evening Express |pages=5}}
Knowles was later admitted to the Bahamas Bar and appointed Assistant Attorney-General of the Bahamas in 1948.
Legal career
He was the President of the Senate of the Bahamas from 1964 to 1972.{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ruZNAAAAMAAJ&q=%22president%2C+senate%22 | title=Elements of Bahamian Law| last1=Knowles| first1=Sir Leonard J.| year=1989}} In 1973, he became the first Chief Justice in the newly independent Bahamas, a position he held until 1978.{{Cite news |last=Dorsett |first=Sidney |date=July 4, 1973 |title=Leonard Knowles Sworn in as the First Bahamian Chief Justice in 63 Years |url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00084249/03387/images/0 |access-date=6 May 2024 |work=Tribune newspaper |pages=1 |ref=sworn_in}}{{cite web|url=http://www.courts.gov.bs/cms/wp-content/uploads/supremecourt_formerjustices.pdf |title=Former Justices of the Supreme Court |publisher=Supreme Court of the Bahamas |accessdate=7 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101073017/http://www.courts.gov.bs/cms/wp-content/uploads/supremecourt_formerjustices.pdf |archivedate= 1 January 2015 }} He had to be sworn in before the Bahamian Independence Day on 10 July 1973 because it was his duty to swear in the first prime minister. He was made CBE in 1963, and Knight Bachelor in the Queen's 1974 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |date=7 June 1974 |supp=y |issue=46315 |page=6837}}
Later life and death
After his retirement, he moved to the United States to live with his son in Macon, Georgia. He died on 23 September 1999.
References
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Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:Chief justices of the Bahamas
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:People from Nassau, Bahamas
Category:Bahamian emigrants to the United States
Category:Presidents of the Senate of the Bahamas
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