In government service as in private practice, the war had shaken up the colonial status quo.

And change would come rapidly to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Bench. However, like Kenneth Hilborne and Howard Cashin, young Englishmen would still travel to Asia in the early 1950s to make their careers in the colonial legal service.

Among the last of them was Graham Starforth Hill.

Listen to Chapter Three:

You didn’t come this far to stop

Graham Starforth Hill

Born in Oxford on 22nd June 1927, Graham Starforth Hill read law at St John’s College, Oxford. Working for the Colonial Legal Service, he came to Singapore in 1953, where he was Crown Counsel until 1956. The following year, he joined Rodyk & Davidson where he rose to senior partner. He remained at the firm until 1976. He was the President of the Law Society of Singapore for four terms from 1969 to 1972. He left Singapore in 1976 and has worked in the UK and Italy. Hill retired in May 1994 and now resides in Hampshire, UK.

Graham Starforth Hill’s three years with the Colonial Legal Service straddled several pivotal points in Singapore’s transition from colonial rule to self-governance.

Politically, the most significant event was probably the 1955 Legislative Assembly general election, conducted under the newly-enacted Rendel Constitution.

For the first time, a majority of the seats (25 out of 32) was contested.