Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds

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PC
1953 photograph of Simonds by Sir Cecil Beaton
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office
30 October 1951 – 18 October 1954
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byThe Viscount Jowitt
Succeeded byThe Viscount Kilmuir
Personal details
Born28 November 1881 (1881-11-28)
Reading, Berkshire
Died28 June 1971(1971-06-28) (aged 89)
Westminster, London
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materNew College, Oxford

Gavin Turnbull Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds,

PC (28 November 1881 – 28 June 1971) was a British judge, politician and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
.

Background and education

Simonds was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Louis DeLuze Simonds and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Turnbull. They were members of a well-known Berkshire family of brewing magnates (see H & G Simonds Ltd). He was educated at Winchester College (where he was later a Fellow, and Warden from 1946 to 1951) and at New College, Oxford.[citation needed]

Legal and political career

Simonds was

Privy Council and created a life peer as Baron Simonds, of Sparsholt in the County of Southampton.[4]

Simonds remained a Law Lord until 1951, when Winston Churchill appointed him Lord Chancellor. He was holder of the office at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, adding a major ceremonial role to his judicial one.[5]

In June 1952 he was made a hereditary peer as Baron Simonds, of Sparsholt in the County of Southampton.

Winchester from 1951.[citation needed
]

The Shaw v DPP case

In 1962 Simonds achieved some notoriety in the case of Shaw v DPP,

conspiracy
to corrupt public morals". He declared:

"In the sphere of criminal law I entertain no doubt that there remains in the Courts of Law a residual power to enforce the supreme and fundamental purpose of the law, to conserve not only the safety and order but also the moral welfare of the State, and that it is their duty to guard it against attacks which may be the more insidious because they are novel and unprepared for".

fears to tread
it is not for the courts to rush in".

Family

Lord Simonds had three sons who all predeceased him. Robert Francis Simonds died in infancy; John Mellor Simonds (1915–1944) was killed in action at Arnhem in 1944, and Gavin Alexander Simonds (1915–1951) died as a result of illness contracted on active service in East Africa in 1951. Consequently, the hereditary barony and viscountcy became extinct on his death in June 1971, aged 89.[citation needed]

Arms

Coat of arms of Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds
Crest
An ermine Proper resting the sinister paw upon the astronomical sign of Taurus Sable and holding in the mouth a trefoil slipped Or.
Escutcheon
Tierced in pall Azure, Gules and Vert three Trefoils slipped Or
Supporters
On either side an ermine Proper each charged on the shoulder the dexter with an hop leaf and the sinister with a bezant.
Motto
Simplex Munditiis [10]

References

  1. ^ "No. 32928". The London Gazette. 18 April 1924. p. 3205.
  2. ^ "No. 34377". The London Gazette. 5 March 1937. p. 1486.
  3. ^ "No. 34379". The London Gazette. 12 March 1937. p. 1640.
  4. ^ a b "No. 36481". The London Gazette. 21 April 1944. p. 1841.
  5. ^ "ROYALTY - CORONATION OF ELIZABETH II". Bonhams.
  6. ^ "No. 39584". The London Gazette. 27 June 1952. p. 3520.
  7. ^ "No. 40313". The London Gazette. 29 October 1954. p. 6124.
  8. ^ Shaw v DPP [1962] AC 220 House of Lords
  9. ^ "Shaw v DPP". e-lawresources.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Simonds, Viscount (UK, 1954 - 1971)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
Political offices
Preceded by Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
1951–1954 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation
Viscount Simonds

1954–1971 		Extinct
Baron Simonds

1952–1971
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