Eric George Irons was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1921 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1944, arriving in Britain during the Second World War and later settling in Nottingham, where he met and married Nellie Kelham.
During the 1950s Irons became a leading figure in Nottingham's Black community, founding the Colonial Social and Sports Club and campaigning through the Nottingham and District Trades Council to lift discriminatory employment bans against Black workers, including a ban on Black bus employees.
Irons played a central role in helping the city council address the aftermath of the 1958 Nottingham race riots, and on 15 May 1962 he was appointed Britain's first Black Justice of the Peace, a landmark moment reported nationally at the time.
He went on to serve the Nottingham bench for 29 years, sitting on licensing, juvenile and domestic court panels, and was awarded the OBE in 1977 for his services to social justice before retiring in 1991 and continuing community work until his death in 2007.
A lifelong passion for racial equality inspired his move into public life, culminating in an appointment that made history for the whole country.
Eric Irons's appointment as Britain's first Black magistrate in 1962 opened the judiciary to Black representation for the first time, and his three decades of community work in Nottingham are commemorated today by a plaque at the National Justice Museum.
- 1921Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
- 1944Joins the Royal Air Force and arrives in Britain.
- 1950sFounds the Colonial Social and Sports Club in Nottingham.
- 1962Appointed Britain’s first Black Justice of the Peace.
- 1977Awarded the OBE for services to social justice.
- 1991Retires from the Nottingham bench after 29 years.
- 2007Dies in Nottingham.
- ★ Britain's first Black Justice of the Peace, appointed 1962
- ★ Served the Nottingham magistrates' bench for 29 years
- ★ Helped lift a discriminatory employment ban against Black bus workers
- ★ Awarded the OBE in 1977 for services to social justice
- ★ Honorary Master of Arts from the University of Nottingham, 1999