Alfred Francis Adderley was born in Nassau on November 16, 1891 the son of Mr. Wilfred Parliament and Letitia Eliza McMinn Adderley. He attended Boys' Central School and the Nassau Grammar School until 1908 when he entered Denstone College, Staffordshire, England. He worked in New York City for a year to help finance his education and in 1912 he entered St. Catherine's College, Cambridge from which he received the B. A. and LL B. degrees with honours. From 1915 to 1919 he worked in the War Factory Service as Assistant Pay Master at White City, London. A member of the Middle Temple, he was called to the English Bar in 1919. He then returned to The Bahamas to practice law and was called to the Bahamas Bar in August 1919.

In 1923 he was elected to the House of Assembly for Eleuthera and in 1928 he was returned for the Western District. He served for several years as Legal Advisor to The House under Speaker Malcolm. He was appointed to a seat on the Legislative Council in 1938 and to the Executive Council in 1946. At the time of his death he was a senior member of that body.

In the King's Birthday Honours in 1951 he was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He also presided as Acting Chief Justice that same year at the October Sessions of the Supreme Court.

He married Ethel Millicent Louise Lunn on April 29, 1925 and fathered two sons: Dr. Francis E. Adderley, M.D. and the Honourable Paul L. Adderley, former Minister of Finance and Minister of External Affairs, Education and Culture and Attorney General. Mr. A. F. Adderley also held the Chairmanship of the Electrical Board and the Airport's Board and was a member of the Civil Service Committee. He was chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Nassau, a member of the Vestry of St. Mary's Church and a member of the Board of Governors of St. John's College.

 
   
 

As a youth he was a keen cricketer and tennis player and also participated in track sports. He was responsible for the formation of the Bahamas Cricket Association and held the office of President until he resigned. He was also made Honorary Life Vice-President of The Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association.

Throughout his public career he was a strong advocate of social legislation. He served for ten years on the Health Board and six years on the Board of Education.

In his profession Mr. Adderley was regarded as the Colony's most outstanding trial lawyer and one of the most able advocates in The Caribbean. He held the distinction of having acted as counsel for the defence in more murder cases than any other Bahamian lawyer of his day. He was the Crown prosecutor in the Oakes Murder Case in which Marigny, the accused was acquitted.

A school was named after Mr. Adderley to acknowledge his contribution to Bahamian Society.