Monarch Edward VIIGeorge V | Monarch Edward VIIGeorge V Name Charles Major | |
Succeeded by Albert Ehrhardt (acting) | ||
Sir Charles Henry Major (30 October 1860 – 31 August 1933) was a British judge, who served in various colonies around the Caribbean, as well as in Fiji.
Born in St Kitts, Major was the son of Charles Henry Manager, Sr., manager of the Colonial Bank of the West Indies, and Francis Frederica Clinckett, of Barbados. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, and practiced Law in the Leeward Islands from 1887.
He was Chancellor of the Diocese of Antigua from 1889 to 1899, a member of the Legislative Council of Antigua from 1895 to 1899, and a member and President of the General Legislative Council of the Leeward Islands from 1896 to 1900. He served as a member of the Federal Executive Council of the Leeward Islands from 1897 to 1901, as Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Antigua from 1897 to 1899, and Attorney General of Grenada from 1901 to 1902, when he became Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
He was Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific and Chief Justice of Fiji from 1902 to 1914, and Chief Justice of British Guiana from 1914 till his death in 1933. During his term as Chief Justice of Fiji, he was ex officio a member of the Legislative Council, and acted as Governor of Fiji in an interim capacity from 1910 to 21 February 1911.
He was given a knighthood in 1911, while serving as Chief Justice of Fiji.