Hiram Shaw Wilkinson was born on 13 June 1840, the son of John Wilkinson Esq., of Belfast and Annabella Shaw, daughter of William Shaw, Esq., of Holden's Valley, County Down. In 1864 he married Prudie Gaffikin, the daughter of Thomas Gaffikin, Esq., of Belfast. He had two sons, Hiram Parkes Wilkinson, and the Reverend Thomas Gaffikin Wilkinson, both of whom were born in Yokohama, Japan. His wife died in 1870 in Yokohama. Wilkinson never remarried. Wilkinson was educated at Queen's College, Belfast, earning a B.A. in 1864 and LL.D. in 1881.
Career
Wilkinson entered Her Majesty's Consular Service in Japan in 1864, as a student interpreter. Wilkinson spoke fluent Japanese as a result of this time in consular service. In 1872, Hiram Shaw Wilkinson was admitted to the bar of the Middle Temple. He would go on to serve in several legal and judicial offices in the Far East. By 1876 Wilkinson was serving as 1st Assistant and interpreter at the British Consulate in Yedo as well as a Visiting Judge of the British Consular Court in Kanagawa. In 1877 he was appointed Acting Law Secretary of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan to be based in Yokohama. From 1879 to 1880 he acted as an Assistant Judge of the same court in Shanghai. In 1882, he was appointed Crown Advocate of the Supreme Court based in Shanghai. In his position as Crown Advocate, Wilkinson, was requested to take on the responsibility of being the lead prosecutor of Edith Carew for the murder of her husband in 1896 in Yokohama. Soon after, he was appointed Judge of the British Court for Japan to succeed Robert Mowat. He was the final judge of that court which was wound down in 1900 after extraterritorial rights came to an end in Japan. He then, in 1900, was appointed Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Corea succeeding Sir Nicholas Hannen who died that year. Wilkinson served in the consular service in Japan at the same time as Ernest Satow, the first British student interpreter in Japan and later British Minister in Japan and then China. In later years, Satow described his advice as excellent and pushed for his appointment as Judge of the British Court for Japan and Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan. Wilkinson was knighted for his services in 1903. In 1905, Sir Hiram retired from the bench in Shanghai, and moved to the townland of Moneyshanere, outside Tobermore, modern-day Northern Ireland. He was succeeded by Sir Havilland de Sausmarez. His son, Hiram Parkes Wilkinson succeeded him as Crown Advocate in Shanghai and served in that position until 1925, meaning that father and son held the position for 44 years.
Positions held
During his career in the Far East, Wilkinson held the following positions.
