He was
called to the Bar at the
Inner Temple, 15 May 1889.[4] His colonial legal career began with an appointment (possibly as Crown Prosecutor) in the British administration of
British Honduras (now
Belize),[5] where he compiled a list of the colony's laws,[6] and made a report on the 1901 Census.[7]
In 1928 Young headed a Royal Commission to investigate whether the swimming baths in the capital,
Suva, operated a 'Europeans-only' policy.
Since 1879 the colony of Fiji had imported indentured workers (as cheap labour) from India to work in the European-owned plantations, which produced (according to demand) sea island cotton from the late 1860s to the early 1870s, then
copra, then
sugarcane from around 1880. This Indian immigration (which ended in 1916) came about because the Pacific Islands (particularly the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands) couldn't provide enough labour. These islands provided labour from 1864 to 1911, when the European planters in the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides brought about legislation to prevent emigration from those islands.[21]
The involvement of the Indian Army and India generally during the
First World War had convinced the colonial Indian Government of the necessity of enfranchising all Indian citizens, and this was granted in 1917.[22] This move towards "responsible government" included Indians living in Fiji, which replicated in some degree the political motivation and agitation which within India pushed towards the Dominion status enjoyed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Moves towards independence continued to gather pace during Young's time as Chief Justice in Fiji, where many time-served previously indentured labourers from India had stayed on to live permanently. In 1928, Indian Fijians began to complain about low numbers of enfranchised rate-payers in Suva, and about a perceived 'Europeans-only' policy of segregation in the two municipally-run public Suva swimming baths . The Governor, Sir
Eyre Hutson appointed a Committee to investigate the municipal matter. The committee split into three factions which each produced a report on the situation. The disagreement between the three groups led to the Governor appointing Young to head a Royal Commission: he found that there had been a policy of segregation, which was brought to an end.[23]
Cricketing career
Alfred Young played cricket twice for
Kent County Cricket Club, once in 1887 and again in 1890. The latter match, against
MCC at
Lord's, was his only
first-class cricket appearance. He also played for Rochester Cricket Club. According to his
Wisden obituary, he was "a sound, steady batsman, showing special skill in placing the ball off his legs and late cutting".[24]
He retired in 1929, and married Frances May Buckley (née Miller) (1875–4 October 1952) on 19 April 1930. Her parents were Sir
Henry Miller (9 September 1830 – 7 February 1917) and Jessie Orbell (d. 23 July 1920). Frances was the widow (married 14 June 1899) of
St. John McLean Buckley, a wealthy New Zealand sheep rancher who died in 1916.
Herchenroder, Furcy Alfred (1904). Young, A. K. (ed.). The laws of Seychelles (3 Vols. 1872–1898, revised ed.). Government Printing Office. [F. A. Herchenroder[28] was the first Chief Justice of the Seychelles.]
^Downing Street, 25 January 1921: The King has been pleased to confirm the appointment of —
Alfred Karney Young, Esq.', K.C. (Attorney General) to be nominated Members of the Legislative Council of the Colony of Fiji.
The London Gazette, 28 January 1921, p.779
^The King has been pleased to give directions for the appointment of Alfred Karney Young, Esq~. (Chief Justice, Leeward Islands), to be
Chief Justice of Fiji and
Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
The London Gazette, 5 December 1922 (Also, coincidentally on the same page, there is a NOTICE OF INTENDED DISTRIBUTION OF NAVAL SALVAGE MONEY by the Department of the Accountant-General of the Navy, 5 December 1922; this was familiar territory to
Maxwell Maxwell-Anderson, (counsel for the Admiralty in the Prize Court from 1916 to 1918) who succeeded Sir Arthur Young as
Chief Justice of Fiji...)
^The KING has been graciously pleased to signify His Majesty's intention of conferring the honour of Knighthood on the following: — Alfred Karney Young, Esq., Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands; Chief Justice designate of the Supreme Court of Fiji, and Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
Supplement to "The London Gazette" of 29 December 1922
Lamb, W. Kaye (January–April 1953).
"Some notes on the Douglas family"(PDF). British Columbia Historical Quarterly. XVII (1 & 2). Victoria, B.C.: Archives of British Columbia: 41–53.
Massue, Melville Henry (Marquis of Ruvigny and Ranieval) (2013) [1911]. The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: The Mortimer-Percy Volume. The Plantagenet roll...being a complete table of all the descendants now living of Edward III, king of England. Heritage Books. p.
522.
ISBN9780788418723.