Hiram Shaw Wilkinson

Sir Hiram Shaw Wilkinson, JP, DL (1840–1926) was a leading British judge and diplomat, serving in China and Japan. His last position before retirement was as Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Corea.

Early life Hiram Shaw Wilkinson was born on 13 June 1840, the son of John Wilkinson Esq., of Belfast and Annabella Shaw, daughter of William Shaw, Esq., of Holden's Valley, County Down.

In 1872, Hiram Shaw Wilkinson was admitted to the bar of the Middle Temple. From 1879 to 1880 he acted as an Assistant Judge of the same court in Shanghai.

In 1882, he was appointed Crown Advocate of the Supreme Court based in Shanghai. In his position as Crown Advocate, Wilkinson, was requested to take on the responsibility of being the lead prosecutor of Edith Carew for the murder of her husband in 1896 in Yokohama. Soon after, he was appointed Judge of the British Court for Japan to succeed Robert Mowat. He was the final judge of that court which was wound down in 1900 after extraterritorial rights came to an end in Japan. He then, in 1900, was appointed Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Corea succeeding Sir Nicholas Hannen who died that year.

Wilkinson served in the consular service in Japan at the same time as Ernest Satow, the first British student interpreter in Japan and later British Minister in Japan and then China. In later years, Satow described his advice as excellent and pushed for his appointment as Judge of the British Court for Japan and Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan.

Wilkinson was knighted for his services in 1903.