| No. |
Portrait |
Name |
Took office |
Left office |
Notes |
Ref |
| 1 |
|
Paul Ivy Sterling |
1844 |
1855 |
First Attorney General (AG) of Hong Kong. Later appointed Puisne Judge in Ceylon 1855 and acting Chief Justice 1860. |
|
| 2 |
|
Thomas Chisholm Anstey |
1855 |
1859 |
Former member of British Parliament 1847-1852. Practiced at Bombay bar after retirement. |
|
| 3 |
|
William Adams |
1859 |
1860 |
Did not act as AG and was appointed acting Chief Justice immediately on arrival in Hong Kong and then appointed as Chief Justice of Hong Kong. |
|
| 4 |
|
Sir John Smale |
1860 |
1866 |
Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1866 |
|
| 5 |
|
Sir Julian Pauncefote |
1866 |
1873 |
Appointed Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands 1874. Later had a very illustrious career in the Foreign Office. Became Lord Pauncefote in 1899. |
|
| 6 |
|
Sir John Bramston |
1873 |
1876 |
Appointed Assistant Under Secretary of State in the Colonial Office 1876. |
|
| 7 |
|
Sir George Phillippo |
1876 |
1879 |
First non-British-born AG, Phillippo was born in Jamaica. He left to become Chief Justice of Gibraltar 1879 to 1882 and returned to appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1882. In 1897 he became British High Consul in Geneva, Switzerland. |
|
| 8 |
|
Sir Edward O'Malley |
1880 |
1889 |
Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1889 and Chief Justice of British Guiana 1895. |
|
| 9 |
|
Sir W. Meigh Goodman, QC/KC |
1890 |
1902 |
Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1902. |
|
| 10 |
|
Sir Henry Spencer Berkeley, KC |
1902 |
1906[4] |
Previously Chief Justice of Fiji 1889-1902. Retired to practice at Hong Kong bar 1906, but acted as AG in 1909. |
|
| 11 |
|
Sir William Rees-Davies, KC |
1907 |
1912 |
Appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1912. |
|
| 12 |
|
Sir John Bucknill, KC |
1912 |
1914 |
Appointed Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements 1914 and Puisne Judge of the Patna High Court in Patna, British India 1920. |
|
| 13 |
|
Sir Joseph Kemp, KC |
1914 |
1930 |
Puisne Judge, Hong Kong, prior to appointment 1913-1914. Next appointed Chief Justice of Hong Kong 1930. |
|
| 14 |
|
Sir C. Grenville Alabaster, KC |
1930 |
1941 |
Interned in Stanley Internment Camp during World War II and retired after the war. |
|
| British administration suspended during Japanese occupation during World War II. Military Government from August 1945 to March 1946. |
| 15 |
|
John Bowes Griffin, KC |
1946 |
1951 |
Appointed in December 1946. G.E. Strickland, acted as AG before Bowes Griffin's appointment. Bowes Griffin was next appointed Chief Justice of Uganda 1952. Was acting Chief Justice of Northern Rhodesia 1957, Speaker of the Legislative Council in Uganda 1958-1962 and Speaker of the Ugandan National Assembly 1962-1963. |
|
| 16 |
|
Arthur Ridehalgh, KC/QC |
1952 |
26 November 1961 |
Last AG to be a KC. Retired on a pension. |
[5] |
| 17 |
|
Maurice Heenan, QC |
4 December 1961 |
2 September 1966 |
Non-British-born (born in New Zealand). Crown Counsel prior to appointment. Resigned to join United Nations as Deputy Director of the General Legal Division 1966-1973, then as General Counsel for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees in Beirut 1973-1977. Died in the United States. |
[6][7] |
| 18 |
|
Denys Roberts, QC |
3 September 1966 |
29 September 1973 |
Appointed Colonial/Chief Secretary (1973-1979) and then Chief Justice of Hong Kong. Retired on a pension. |
[7][8] |
| 19 |
|
John Hobley, QC |
30 September 1973 |
3 June 1979 |
Served as Crown Counsel in Hong Kong 1953-1973, briefly as Attorney General of Bermuda 1972-1973 and Solicitor General of Hong Kong 1973. Retired on a pension in 1979. |
[8][9] |
| 20 |
|
John Griffiths, QC |
4 June 1979 |
10 June 1983 |
Last non-British-born AG - born in Persia (now Iran). Entered private practice at the English and Hong Kong bars after retirement until 2012. |
[9][10] |
| 21 |
|
Michael Thomas, QC |
11 June 1983 |
30 March 1988 |
Last QC to be AG. Entered private practice at Hong Kong and English bars after retirement. |
[10][11] |
| 22 |
|
Jeremy Mathews |
1 April 1988 |
30 June 1997 |
First solicitor to be appointed AG. Last AG. Retired at end of British rule in Hong Kong. |
[11] |
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