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| Mr Cecil Byron surrounded by his colleagues at the High Court in Charlestown at a special sitting to mark the opening of the New Law Term recently. |
Charlestown Nevis (January 16, 2007) Nevisians awoke to news of the passing of a distinguished son of the soil and noted luminary, Mr. Cecil Oliver Byron, Retired Magistrate and Senior Member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Bar Association. Mr Byron passed away quietly on Monday evening (15 January 2007) at the Alexandra Hospital following a period of illness.
Born on July 8, 1916 at Bath Village, Mr. Byron defied age and continued to serve the general public until his ill health. He was honoured for his sterling contribution to community development by the Nevis Island Administration in 2003 during the Independence Celebration.
In March 1980, he was appointed Magistrate District C Nevis and Additional Magistrate Districts A and B in St. Kitts, where he continued to work until 1998 when he retired as Magistrate.
Legal Advisor in the Nevis Island Administration, Mr. Patrice Nisbett while he expressed condolences to the family on behalf of the Nevis Island Administration, described Mr. Byron as a legal practitioner who served with a sense of pride, dignity and compassion.
He said that in the magistracy, Mr. Byron dealt with disputes that arose between the ordinary citizens and residents of Nevis, citing, He served with a sense of pride, a sense of dignity and most of all a sense of compassion when dispensing justice between the various litigants that came before him.
I myself have had the opportunity of appearing before him for a number of years and I can say that his experience
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| Mr. Cecil Byron receives an award for Community Service during the 2003 Independence celebrations at Grove Park |
has assisted in moulding and shaping my practice at the Bar. I believe that at this time the family of Mr. Byron should find solace in the fact that he was able to touch the lives of many Nevisians and I believe that he not only served his family well, but he served the country well in the pursuit of justice, said the Legal Advisor.
Meantime, during the Civil Proceedings held earlier today (Tuesday) at the High Court in Charlestown, a moment of silence was observed by Resident Judge, Her Ladyship, the Hon. Madame Justice Ianthea Leigertwood-Octave to acknowledge the passing of Mr. Byron. A special sitting of the High Court in Nevis is planned to pay tribute to and mark the passing of his death.
He began his legal career in September 1948 when he left the island for Britain to read law at the Middle Temple, London and was called to the English Bar at Middle Temple by 1953.
He returned to the Caribbean in 1955 and was appointed Registrar, Supreme Court in Antigua. He was called to the Bar in St. Kitts on March 17, 1958 and by 1959 was appointed Acting Warden/Magistrate, Nevis for six months.
In 1960, he joined the Legal Department in St. Kitts and was appointed Assistant Attorney General. Between 1962 and 1963, Mr. Byron was appointed and served as Attorney General St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla for eight months
~~adz:Left~~ When he declined an offer in 1963 to be Attorney General of Dominica, MrByron set up his private practice by the following year and continued to serve the public until 1980 when he was appointed Magistrate.
The distinguished legal practitioner, served as a member of the Public Service Commission for a four-year term in the 1960s and also served as Visiting Justice to Prison, Nevis for a four-year term in the 1970s. He was the father of three daughters.
