Udal served as Attorney General of Fiji from 1889 to 1899, and as Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands from 1900 to 1911. While serving as Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands, Udal successfully sued James Townsland Allen, editor of the Montserrat Herald, for libel. On 1 November 1910, Allen was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment after a jury found him guilty on two counts of "wickedly and maliciously contriv and intend to scandalise and vilify the said John Symonds Udal in his office of Chief Justice of the said Colony, and to cause it to be believed that the said John Symonds Udal was not a fit and proper person to administer justice in his said office." In particular, the jury condemned Allen for these words: "We as laymen certainly disapprove of His Honour's conduct which to say the least of it was not only ungracious and undignified, but savoured very much of mean cowardice, calculated to bring the administration of justice into contempt."
Interests
A fascination with antiquities, one of Udal's many hobbies, led to an in-depth study of Dorset folklore, customs, and traditions. He was made a member of the Council of the Folklore Society in 1889, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1901. His extensive research into Dorset folklore culminated in his work, Dorsetshire Folklore in 1922. During his time as Chief Justice of the Leeward Islands, Udal was shown a memorial on Nevis to John Pinney, son of Azariah Pinney, formerly of Bettiscombe. This led Udal to believe that the well-known Bettiscombe Skull was that of one of Pinney's slaves. Finding a reference in an old register of slaves on the Pinney estate to "Bettiscombe", he concluded that the skull belonged to a slave named Bettiscombe, who must have been brought to England when or before the Nevis estates were sold. This theory, which Udal published in the Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, was disproved long after Udal's death.
Udal was the second son, and the fourth of nine children born to William Udal and Mary-Anne Symonds, who were cousins. William hailed from Netherbury, where his family had lived for generations. Mary-Anne was from Broadwindsor. William and Mary-Anne then moved to Edgbaston, Birmingham, Staffordshire, where William became a successful businessman. On 8 August 1878, John Udal married Eva Mary Adelina Routh, with whom he had two sons and three daughters. Udal left something of a cricketing dynasty. His son Robin played first-class cricket for Oxford University and the MCC, his grandson Geoffrey played for Middlesex and Leicestershire, whilst his great-great-grandson Shaun has played Test cricket for England. Udal died suddenly in London, England, on 13 March 1925, and was interred in the churchyard of his hometown of Symondsbury, in Dorset county.
