Background
O'Connor was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand, British India.
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Kenneth O'Connor
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O'Connor was educated at Saint Columba's College, Dublin where he was a chorister and cricketer.
Career
He was the second child of the Revd. William O'Connor and Emma (née Kennedy). He was awarded the Military Cross "for distinguished and meritorious services" at the Battle of Sharqat, during the campaign in Mesopotamia against the Turks.
Sir Kenneth later wrote a short account of the Battle of Sharqat. After the war he left the Indian Army with the rank of Captain, though he was later made an Honorary Colonel. O'Connor then joined the Foreign & Political Department of the Government of India, serving as the British District Commissioner in Charsadda, a district of Northern India (now Pakistan) adjoining the Khyber Pass.
In 1922, he resigned and returned to England, where he was called to the London Bar in 1924 by Gray's Inn. Evacuation from Japanese occupation
As Chairman of the Straits Settlements Association, O'Connor played a key role in planning the civilian evacuation of the island in the event of a Japanese invasion. Despite these impediments, with three others, he successfully sailed to Sumatra.
O'Connor later wrote a short account of this adventure, entitled Four Men in a Boat. He had already evacuated his young family (Anthony, born 1933 and Hugh, born 1940) to Australia, where he later joined them. Attorney General to the Colonial Legal Service
In 1943, having joined the Colonial Legal Service, O'Connor was appointed Attorney General of Nyasaland (now Malawi).
After the war he returned to to reconstruct the legal practice of Drew & Napier. In 1946, he was appointed Attorney General of the Malayan Union and in 1948, Attorney General of Kenya. In 1951, O'Connor was appointed Chief Justice of Jamaica in which position he served until 1954.
In 1954, he was recalled to Kenya as Chief Justice, serving until 1957. Kenyan Mau Mau uprising
At this time, the Mau Mau Uprising was at its peak. O'Connor was the senior presiding judge in many Mau Mau trials, the most notable being that of Dedan Kimathi, whom O'Connor sentenced to death in 1957.
O'Connor finished his distinguished legal career as President of the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa from 1957-1962, with jurisdiction over Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. With Independence, Sir Kenneth and Lady O'Connor retired to their house, Buckland Court, in Surrey, England in 1962. Sir Kenneth died on 13 January 1985, aged 88.
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Born
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Died
January 13, 1985 (aged 88) -
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