Charles William Warner (19 October 1805 – 26/28 February 1887) was a Trinidadian lawyer who served as the Attorney General of Trinidad from 1845 to 1870.
An angliciser who sought to make Trinidad more English, Warner played an important role in replacing the Spanish Law of the Indies in Trinidad with English law and in shaping education policy.
[2]: 99 He was the oldest son of Edward Warner,[2]: 99 an army officer and sugar planter[3] who moved from Dominica to Trinidad in 1806[4] and his wife Catherine Jane Warner (who was the daughter of British army officer Sir Charles Shipley).
From 1834 to 1840 he was the Syndic Procurador General (legal advisor) of the Illustrious Cabildo of Port of Spain.
While governors served for relatively short periods of time, Warner's presence in the colony was permanent, and he was closely connected to the planter and commercial class.
[9]: 48–49 One of his opponents was the Catholic francophone Mayor of Port of Spain, Sir Louis de Verteuil who found Warner his "constant and unalterable rival".
One of the first steps in the anglicisation of the law was instituted by Governor Ralph Woodford in 1814 when he required court proceedings and records to be in English.
Warner envisioned both Catholics and Protestants attending these schools, and saw them as a means to promote social harmony and English culture.
[3] When Sir Henry McLeod was appointed governor in 1840, Warner tried again to establish non-denominational schooling.
[3] After the system of ward schools was established, Warner worked to create educational opportunities in Trinidad for members of the upper class who would otherwise have sent their children to Britain or France.
When he failed to do so, one of the heirs petitioned for redress, and Warner was forced to resign and repay the loan.