MAGISTRATES COURT

By 1890 the Assistant Resident Perim was now a Magistrate 1st Class. One of the cases brought before Captain Davies in 1890 was by Mr B Verrol who was the master carpenter on Company Side. He brought a court case against a Somali for letting his goats eat some foliage that had only just been put in around Mr Verrol’s bungalow. In spite of there being several witnesses Davies threw the case out on the basis that it had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt whose goats had eaten what was, for Perim, precious vegetation. This ruling did nothing to improve the already strained relations between Davies and the managing agent of the Perim Coal Company.

The courthouse is the two-storey building above the two people walking in the road. This photograph dates from around 1900. The flagstaff is on the roof.

In July 1891 Davies submitted an indent for two Union Jacks for the Court House. Lieutenant Colonel Stace, the 1st Assistant at Aden asked why they were needed and who had authorised their use. Davies replied that there was nothing in his office records to show the authority by which the flag at the Court House was hoisted, but it that had been the custom for some years to hoist a small Union Jack to give notice that the Court was sitting, it being of great convenience to all concerned. The flagstaff had been erected by the Perim Coal Company, i.e. at no cost to Government.

In 1895 the magistrate (the Assistant Resident) complained that there was great difficulty in getting evidence on the island. The problems were that on Government Side most of the few inhabitants had been living on Perim for many years, whilst on Company Side the coolies were living in dormitory type accommodation, neither of which were conducive to witnesses coming forward.

During 1897 Captain Merewether had to deal with a disciplinary problem concerning Chief Engineer Throstle of the Perim Coal Company’s salvage ship Meyun. Throstle came up before him as having gone absent without leave. Outside the UK the regulations allowed Merewether to award a short term of imprisonment as well as or instead of a fine.

The problem was that the police cell on Perim was not considered suitable for a European. On asking Aden for advice the suggestion given was the obvious one - only fine him.

By 1900 the Assistant Resident Perim, as well as being classed as a ‘Magistrate 1st Class’, was also a ‘Judge of the Court of Small Causes’. Of the 31 accused in 1900-01, five were acquitted, 14 fined, four given a prison sentence of less than one month, two imprisoned for between 1 and 2 months, five imprisoned for between 2 and 3 months, and two were sentenced to be whipped.

No cases were forwarded to Sessions at Aden and fines totalled R166 A4. [The monthly wage of a coal coolie was about Rs12, so the average fine was about a month’s pay.]

It was very difficult for the Assistant Resident to leave the island even temporarily since it left Perim without a magistrate. Early in 1901 it was felt that someone else apart from the Assistant Resident should have the powers of a Magistrate 2nd Class. There were only two possible candidates, the Agent of the Coal Company and the Superintendent of the Eastern Telegraph Company, Mr A D Little.

Given the more or less continuous strained relations between Government and the Perim Coal Company it is no surprise that Mr Little was the firm choice, but it took a further 16 months to April 1902 for his status to be agreed, his Company to agree and the appointment approved by Bombay.

In the end he was made a Special Magistrate 1st Class and a JP but could only be called on if the Assistant Resident was absent. 11 months later the Assistant Resident had to be invalided to Aden and back to England. The day following his departure Little was appointed as magistrate.

In this photograph, from around 1930, the courthouse is immediately behind the dark building in the centre of the photograph. As befits its importance, the courthouse was whitewashed.