Note on the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Alexander Cockburn:

A curious piece of information, not completely verified, came out of my research on Andrew Bogle. It seems possible that Sir Alexander Cockburn, the Lord Chief Justice, who was so considerate of 'Old Bogle', may have been born in Jamaica.

There were certainly Cockburns in Jamaica in the 18th century, and Sir Alexander's father, also Alexander, was 'British envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the state of Columbia'; his mother, Yolande, was the daughter of the vicomte de Vignier, a refugee from the Haitian Revolution. I need to check two other authoritative sources to see if they mention Cockburn's place of birth, but I would welcome any clarification of this point.

Below are two extracts from the Gleaner which suggest that his Jamaican birth and ancestry were fairly widely accepted in the island.

Please use the form below if you have any information on this matter.

Daily Gleaner, 1874, Oct 24

But it has been the boast of Jamaica through all its troubles and misfortunes that it has produced sons who could compete successfully with Englishmen. Need we refer to Lord Abinger, who was born in the parish of St James, and who as Mr. Scarlett, eclipsed all his competitors at nisi prius and threw Brougham, Deoman and Pollock in the shade. Most of our readers of intelligence are doubtless aware that the Lord Chief Justice of England comes from Went Indian parents and is of " mixed blood," and will any Englishman dispute his claim to be considered one of the ablest Judges England ever had! Those who read and learn must know and feel the immense distance above which Sir Alexander Cockburn stands from some of the Judges as preceded him in Westminster Hall. To our minds it has always seemed a hardship that the talent of Jamaicans should in the legal profession, always have been placed at such terrible disadvantage by the unreasonable prejudices in favour of Europeans.

Daily Gleaner, 1910, Oct 22

So that it is not only in Central America and the United States that the Jamaican is to be found doing well: in England also he manages to hold his own, sometimes like Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and Sir E. Maunde Thompson, distinguishing himself by reaching the very top of his profession.