Sidney Rowlatt

2022-09-08T09:44:09Z

2001:8F8:1821:983E:2167:2B94:39B6:FFD6:

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox person
| pre-nominals = Sir
| name = Sidney Rowlatt
| image = Sir Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt (cropped).jpg
| alt = 
| caption =
| birth_name = Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1862|7|20}}
| birth_place = [[Cairo]], Egypt
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1945|3|1|1862|7|20}}
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| education = [[Fettes College]], [[Edinburgh]]
| alma_mater = [[King's College, Cambridge]]
| occupation = Barrister, judge
| years_active = 1886-1932
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| boards = [[Rowlatt Committee]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth Hemmingway|1890}}
| children = 6, including [[John Rowlatt|John]]
| relatives = [[Justin Rowlatt]] (great-grandson)
}}

''' Sidney Arthur Taylor Rowlatt''', [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (20 July 1862 – 1 March 1945) was an Anglo-Egyptian barrister and judge, remembered in part for his presidency of [[Rowlatt Committee|the sedition committee that bore his name]], created in 1918 by the [[British Raj|imperial government]] to subjugate and control [[Indian independence movement|the independence movement]] in [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]], especially [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] and the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]]. The committee gave rise to the [[Rowlatt Act]], an extension of the [[Defence of India Act 1915]].

==Early life==
{{See also|History of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty|History of Egypt under the British}}

Sidney Rowlatt was born in 1862 in [[Cairo]] and brought up in [[Alexandria]], one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean. His father was Arthur Rowlatt, sent out by the [[Bank of England]] to take a post at the [[Bank of Egypt]], and his second wife Amelia, the Alexandria-born daughter of Sidney Terry, merchant. His parents married on 9 May 1860 at the [[Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria|Anglican church in Alexandria]]. Her English grandparents, John and Sarah Friend, had moved to Egypt in 1825, and the family maintained working ties there for well over a century.

Sidney Rowlatt was the eldest son and had several siblings, two of whom stayed in Egypt. Frederick became Governor of the [[National Bank of Egypt|National Bank]] and Charles became Director of Customs Administration. Fred's daughter Mary wrote a memoir of the five generations, ''A Family in Egypt'', which was published in 1956, a few years after [[Egyptian revolution of 1952|the revolution]] which marked the end of British rule in the country.

Sidney Terry appears to have been the grandfather of [[Sidney Sonnino]], making Sidney Rowlatt a cousin of Italy's nineteenth prime minister.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carlucci, Paola |author-link1=Sidney Sonnino and Natalia Morozzo della Rocca: Adulterous Love, Aristocracy and Politics between Two Centuries |title=Italian sexualities uncovered, 1789-1914 |date=20 March 2015 |isbn=978-1-137-39697-6 }}</ref>

The Rowlatt children grew up in Alexandria, living above the Bank building most of the year, and decamping to the nearby beach of Ramleh during the hottest months, as his mother's family had done for generations. In 1868 the Rowlatts built a house there, one of the first buildings in the resort, on a road later renamed after Arthur Rowlatt. They also owned a Nile boat named the ''Ablah'', normally moored in Cairo.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rowlatt |first1=Mary |title=A Family in Egypt |date=1956 |publisher=Robert Hale Limited |location=London }}</ref>

Sidney Rowlatt and his brothers were sent to Britain to [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory]] and [[public school (United Kingdom)|public schools]]. He attended [[Fettes College]] in Edinburgh and then [[King's College, Cambridge]], where he was a distinguished [[classics]] scholar.<ref>{{acad|id=RWLT880SA|name=Rowlatt, Sidney Arthur Taylor}}</ref> His younger brother John Friend Rowlatt followed him to Cambridge and acted as the non-rowing president at [[The Boat Race 1892]].<ref>{{cite book |title=One hundred and fifty years of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race : an official history |year=1979 |publisher=Precision Press |isbn=978-0-95-006387-4 |pages=50–51 }}</ref>

After graduation, Sidney Rowlatt became a [[Fellow#Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin|fellow]] of his college and taught classics for a while at [[Eton College|Eton]], where he was popular with his students.

== Career ==
Rowlatt decided to take up the law and was [[called to the Bar]] by the [[Inner Temple]] in 1886. He joined the [[Oxford circuit]] but made slow progress, [[devilling]] for [[Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay|Robert Finlay]]. When [[William Otto Adolph Julius Danckwerts|William Danckwerts]] [[took silk]] in 1900, the post of junior counsel to the [[Inland Revenue]] fell vacant and Finlay recommended Rowlatt. Then, in 1905 Finlay, now [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]], gave him the post of [[Treasury devil]], a role in which Rowlatt excelled with his energy and affability.{{Citation needed|reason=there seem to be a number of favourable adjectives used here. No harm, but they need justification, else I suggest that they be deleted and the wiki be kept factual|date=October 2022}} He became a [[bencher]] of the Inner Temple in 1906 and later its Treasurer.

Rowlatt was appointed [[Recorder (judge)|Recorder]] of [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] and, in 1912, a judge of the [[King's Bench Division]] of the [[High Court of England and Wales|High Court]], where among other matters he heard cases in the Revenue List. He was a courteous and scholarly judge, quick to see a point and unafraid to make up his mind.{{Citation needed|reason=Again, a lot of favourable adjectives being used, but we do need a few references to justify their use |date=October 2022}}

In 1918 he chaired the inquiry into alleged "[[Hindu–German Conspiracy|Criminal conspiracies connected with revolutionary movements in India]]", the [[Rowlatt Committee]]. The inquiry led to the controversial “[[Rowlatt Act]]” in 1919. This unpopular legislation provided for stricter control of the freedom of press, arrests without warrant, indefinite detention without trial, and juryless ''in camera'' trials for proscribed political acts. The accused were denied the right to know the accusers and the evidence used in the trial.<ref name="Vohra 2001, 126">Vohra, Ranbir (2001). [https://books.google.com/books?id=IDKoyGjFo44C ''The Making of India: A Historical Survey''], 2nd Ed. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. {{ISBN|0-7656-0711-5}}. p. 126.</ref> Indian nationalists called for protest against the Act, which led to an unprecedented response of unrest and protests. In the Punjab, this led to the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]], also known as the Amritsar Massacre.<ref name=FLJR>{{cite news
|author=Swami P
|newspaper=The Hindu
|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1422/14220500.htm
|title=Jallianwala Bagh revisited
|date=1 November 1997
|access-date=2007-10-07
|url-status=usurped
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128143651/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1422/14220500.htm
|archive-date=28 November 2007
}}</ref>
Accepting the report of the Repressive Laws Committee, the [[British Raj|imperial government]] repealed this act in March 1922.<ref name="riddick">[https://books.google.com/books?id=V2nGnWXV7coC&pg=PA106&sig=jrNru448QPQBfZbP5NfPWPxsUsQ&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false The history of British India: a chronology], John F. Riddick, 2006</ref>

Rowlatt was known for the many tax cases he heard, particularly between 1923 and 1932, giving clear, concise and authoritative judgements, many of which are still cited today.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Richard |title=Sir Sidney and Sir John: the Rowlatts and Tax |journal=British Tax Review |volume=2011 |issue=2 |pages=210–28 |url=http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101654/http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf |access-date=20 January 2021|archive-date=4 March 2016 }}</ref>

As a judge of the King’s Bench Division, Rowlatt also heard murder trials, including that of George Stagg, who was found guilty of the murder of [[Aston Villa F.C.]] footballer [[Tommy Ball]] in November 1923.<ref name=londonhearts>{{Citation|title=Footballer Murdered – Ex-policeman sentenced to death|url=http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/images/1924/1924021903.htm |publisher=www.londonhearts.com (Newspaper article)|access-date=4 November 2011|date=19 February 1924}}</ref>

Rowlatt retired in 1932 and was sworn of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]], sitting several times in the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Judicial Committee]]. He chaired the [[Royal Commission on Betting]] (1932–33) and during World War II sat as chairman of the [[General Claims Tribunal]].

==Personal life==
Rowlatt married Elizabeth Hemmingway in 1890 and the couple had four sons and two daughters. His son [[John Rowlatt]] was also a lawyer, who specialised in drafting tax legislation.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf |access-date=17 July 2018 |title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101654/http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Media correspondent [[Justin Rowlatt]] is Sidney's great-grandson; in February 2015, Justin became the [[BBC]]'s South Asia correspondent, posted in [[New Delhi]], and in an article in August 2017 analysed his great-grandfather's drafting of the Rowlatt Act and the events it generated in the context of post-1947 [[India-UK relations]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rowlatt|first1=Justin|title=Independence: Do Indians care about the British any more?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40887900|access-date=13 August 2017|work=BBC News|date=13 August 2022}}</ref>

==Honours==
*[[Order of the Star of India|Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (1918).

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Obituary, ''[[The Times]]'', 3 March 1945, ''p.''7, col E
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Lovett
| given1 = Sir Verney
| year = 1920
| title = A History of the Indian Nationalist Movement
| publisher = New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company
| isbn = 81-7536-249-9
}}
* {{Citation
| doi = 10.2307/2142669
| surname1 = Sarkar
| given1 = B.K.
| year = 1921
| journal = Political Science Quarterly
| volume = 36
| last2 = Lovett
| pages = 136–138
| first2 = Verney
| title =A History of the Indian Nationalist Movement.| jstor = 2142669| issue=1
| hdl = 2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t3nw01g05
| url = https://archive.org/details/historyofindiann00loveiala
| hdl-access = free
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Tinker
| given1 = Hugh
| year = 1968
| title = India in the First World War and after
| journal = Journal of Contemporary History
| volume = 3
| pages = 89–107
| issue=4
| doi = 10.1177/002200946800300407
| s2cid = 150456443
}}.

==External links==
*[http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf "Sir Sidney and Sir John: the Rowlatts and Tax": Article in ''British Tax Review''], archived at [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101654/http://www.francisbennion.com/pdfs/non-fb/2011/2011-001-nfb-btr-rowlatt.pdf WaybackMachine].

{{Hindu-German Conspiracy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlatt, Sidney Arthur Taylor}}
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:20th-century English judges]]
[[Category:Fellows of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Hindu–German Conspiracy]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Inner Temple]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at Fettes College]]
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]

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Sidney Rowlatt