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Name: GRAY, John Milner, Sir

Birth Date: 7 July 1889 Cambridge

Death Date: 15 Jan 1970 Cambridge

First Date: 1921

Profession: Asst. DC Uganda 1921, Dist. Magistrate 1924, Acting Solicitor General 1929, Acting Judge 1933; Judge of Supreme Court Gambia 1934-42, Acting Gov. Gambia 1935 & 40; Chief Justice Zanzibar 1943-52. Knighted 1944

Area: Uganda, Zanzibar

Married: unmarried

Author: 'The British in Mombasa 1824-1826', Early Portuguese Missionaries in East Africa' and 'History of Zanzibar from the Middle Ages to 1856'

Book Reference: Who's Who, Debrett, Colonial, UJ

War Service: WW1 with Sherwood Foresters (twice wounded) - Capt.

School: Perse School & King's College Cambridge

General Information:

Debrett - admitted a Solicitor 1923; Bar, Gray's Inn 1932; Appointed Assist. Dist. Commr., Uganda 1921, Dist. Magistrate there 1924, Judge of Supreme Court, Gambia 1934, and Ch. Justice, Zanzibar 1943; retired 1952; European War 1914-19 in France and Belgium as Capt. Sherwood Foresters (twice wounded)
Uganda Journal - Vol 34, pp. 33/4 - Sir John Gray, a former Chief Justice of Zanzibar and a pioneer of research into the history of East Africa, died on 15 January 1970. John Milner Gray, the younger son of Dr. Arthur Gray, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge was born on 7 July 1889. His maternal grandfather was the Rev. John Philip Gell, one of Dr. Arnold's star pupils at Rugby and the model for 'Old Brooke' of 'Tom Brown's Schooldays'; whilst his grandmother was the only child of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer. Educated at Dover College, Perse School and King's College, Cambridge, he had qualified as a solicitor when the 1914-18 War took him to France, where he was twice wounded. He recalled an impressive meeting as a young staff officer with the ageing General Marchand (of Fashoda), and it may be that this turned his thoughts to Africa, for in 1920 he joined the Colonial Administrative Service in Uganda. He was soon engaged in magisterial work and, having been called to the Bar by Gray's Inn, he was in 1934 transferred to the Gambia as Judge of the Supreme Court. Here he twice acted as Governor, returning in 1943 to East Africa as Chief Justice of Zanzibar. He was knighted in 1944. He retired in 1952 but remained in  Zanzibar to pursue researches in the Zanzibar Consular archives, the while assisting the Government, presiding over a number of inquiries and undertaking a revision of the laws. In 1960 he returned to England to continue the life of a scholar at Cambridge where he died. He was unmarried. ………….. In 1934 a small body of like-minded officials, prominent among whom was a young distrivct officer, later Lord Twining, combined to publish 'The Uganda Journal'. In this appeared Gray's first findings, seminal contributions which are among the foundation stones upon which the studies of the now numerous schools of African history, all then non-existent, have been raised. His subsequent explorations of Arab, Portuguese, French, German, Egyptian and American sources yielded a rich harvest of discoveries, which with unrestrained generosity, he hande on to any who shared his devotion to historical integrity. These appeared for the most part in 'The Uganda Journal' and 'Tanganyika Notes and Records'. In addition to these many scores of contributions, all scholarly and informed, his major publications including a 'History of the Gambia', 'The British in Mombasa 1824-1826', Early Portuguese Missionaries in East Africa' and 'History of Zanzibar from the middle ages to 1856'.
Christine Nicholls Called 'Bwana Sahani Moja' {Mr. One Plate) by his staff.

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