Sir Leonard Joseph Knowles, CBE (15 March 1916 – 23 September 1999) was the first Chief Justice of the Bahamas of an independent Bahamas. Knowles was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and was educated at Queen's College, Nassau before going to King's College London where he took an LLB in law in 1937. In 1935 he joined Gray's Inn in London, and was called to the bar in 1939. After his retirement, he moved to the United States to live with his son in Macon, Georgia. He died on 23 September 1999 and is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Macon.