Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey
The Lord Denning | |
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Personal details | |
Born | Geoffrey Lawrence 2 December 1880 London, England |
Died | 28 August 1971 Oaksey, Wiltshire, England | (aged 90)
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Political party | Crossbencher |
Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Occupation | Barrister, judge |
Profession | Law |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Branch/service | British Army |
Unit | Royal Artillery |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Geoffrey Lawrence, 3rd Baron Trevethin, 1st Baron Oaksey,
Biography
The Lawrence family came from
Lawrence was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1906, and later joined the chambers of Sir Robert Finlay. The chambers specialised in taking appellate cases to the highest courts—the House of Lords for domestic cases, and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for appeals from the Dominions and Colonies. Finlay came to rely on Lawrence, although for cases from Canada, Lawrence acted as lead counsel with Finlay as junior.
On 26 September 1914, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the
On returning to the Bar Lawrence continued to take cases to the Privy Council. An interest in horses, inherited from his father, led to his appointment as Attorney for the Jockey Club from 1922. Soon after he was appointed as Recorder of Oxford, a part-time judgeship.
In 1927 Lawrence was made a
Two weeks after the Kristallnacht in 1938, Lawrence helped Cornelia Oberlander flee Nazi Germany.[7]
As a judge, Lawrence tended to keep out of the limelight by neither issuing sensational judgments nor drawing attention to himself. When
Nuremberg trials
He was chosen as an experienced judge to be the lead to
Lawrence was not considered an exceptional legal talent but won acclaim for delivering a very clear judgment (largely penned by Birkett) that expressed the moral sense of the Court's conclusions. After the trials, Lawrence was raised to the
As a senior legal figure in the House of Lords, he served as a
Retirement and death
In retirement, Lawrence dedicated himself to his farm, judging several county agricultural shows.[8]
Lawrence died on 28 August 1971 in Oaksey, Wiltshire, England.[1]
Personal life
Lawrence married Marjorie Frances Alice (1898–1984) on 22 December 1921.
Arms
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References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37661. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "Lord Trevethin And Oaksey". The Times. 30 August 1971. p. 8.
- ^ "Lord Oaksey, Nuremberg trials judge". The Daily Telegraph. 30 August 1971. p. 4.
- ^ "No. 28973". The London Gazette. 13 November 1914. p. 9275.
- ^ "No. 29038". The London Gazette. 12 January 1915. p. 391.
- ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1917. p. 23.
- ^ Green, Penelope (9 June 2021). "Cornelia Oberlander, a Farsighted Landscape Architect, Dies at 99". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Lord Oaksey, Presiding Judge at Nuremberg Trials, Is Dead". The New York Times. London, England. 30 August 1971. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1936.