Gerald Gardiner, Baron Gardiner
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
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In office 15 January 1964 – 7 January 1990 Life Peerage | |
Personal details | |
Born | 30 May 1900 |
Died | 7 January 1990 | (aged 89)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | (1) Lesley Trounson (d. 1966) m. 1925–1966 (2) Muriel Box (1905–1991) m. 1970–1990 |
Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
Gerald Austin Gardiner, Baron Gardiner,
Early life and education
His father was Robert Septimus Gardiner (died 16 November 1939)[2] and his mother was Alice von Ziegesar (died 31 January 1953[3]), daughter of Count von Ziegesar and granddaughter of Dionysius Lardner.[4] Gardiner was born in Chelsea, London[5] and attended Harrow School.
While Gardiner was at Magdalen College, Oxford in the 1920s, he became president of the Oxford Union and of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. He was rusticated (suspended) in 1921, and was again threatened with rustication in November 1922, for publishing a pamphlet attacking restrictions on women undergraduates. A woman undergraduate had suffered the same fate a few days previously for climbing into a men's college after a dance.[dubious ] Gardiner rushed to her defence and the Vice-Chancellor, Lewis Richard Farnell, notoriously out of touch with the post-war generation, asked Gardiner to leave at 06:00; any later, Farnell knew, would have meant a sympathetic funeral procession several hundred strong. The girl to whose defence Gardiner had come was Dilys Powell, who later became a film critic.[citation needed] Gardiner graduated with a fourth-class degree in jurisprudence in 1923.
While occupying the position of Chancellor of the Open University, he took a degree in the Social Sciences, at the age of 76.[6]
Pacifism
Gerald Gardiner served in the
Legal career
Gardiner was
Lord Chancellorship
Gardiner stood for election as the
Security surveillance
During debates on the British Telecommunications Bill[12] in the House of Lords in 1981, various members raised concerns about telephone tapping, a matter of disquiet in the community and amongst these members. In his contribution, Lord Gardiner told of the difficulties he experienced as Lord Chancellor (1964–1970) in being able to conduct strictly private discussions with the then Attorney-General. Lord Gardiner said he believed his telephone calls were intercepted by a British intelligence organisation. He also alluded to a need to take a ride around the park in his chauffeur-driven car with the Attorney-General to ensure security of their conversations – rather than having 'security' listen in[13]
Post-Lord Chancellorship
Northern Ireland Interrogation methods Minority Report
Lord Gardiner published the Minority Report in March 1972 as part of the
Assassination attempt
In June 1981 Gardiner survived an assassination attempt when a
Open University
He was Chancellor of the Open University from 1973 to 1978.
Personal life
In 1925 he married Lesly Trounson (died 1966). They had one daughter. In 1970, Gardiner married Muriel Box, writer, producer and director who had won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Seventh Veil. She published his biography in 1983.[17] He died in Hendon, London[18] on 7 January 1990, aged 89.
Arms
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Legacy
Gardiner's archives are held by two institutions, the Churchill Archive Centre in Cambridge[21] and the British Library.[22] The latter collection chiefly concerns the abolition of capital punishment in Great Britain.
Publications
- Capital Punishment as a Deterrent: and the alternative, London, Victor Gollancz (1956).
- Law Reform Now (Edited with Andrew Martin), London, Victor Gollancz (1963).
- Justice (INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS) Living it down. The problem of old convictions. The report of a Committee set up by Justice, The Howard League for Penal Reform, The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders. Chairman of Committee, the Rt. Hon. Lord Gardiner. London: Stevens & Sons, 1972. ISBN 0-420-43910-2
- UK Government, Northern Ireland Office. Report of a Committee to consider, in the context of civil liberties and human rights, measures to deal with terrorism in Northern Ireland, etc. (1975) (Parliamentary papers. Cmnd. 5847) ISBN 0-10-158470-9, Chair: Lord Gardiner.
References
- ODNB article by Norman S. Marsh, 'Gardiner, Gerald Austin, Baron Gardiner (1900–1990)', rev., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 ODNB Online, accessed 27 March 2008.
- ^ The Times, Saturday, 18 November 1939; pg. 1; Issue 48466; col A: Death notices
- ^ The Times, Thursday, 5 February 1953; pg. 8; Issue 52538; col E: Death Notice of Lady Gardiner.
- ^ The Times, Monday, 20 November 1939; pg. 8; Issue 48467; col D Sir Robert Gardiner Obituary. Dionysus Lardner archive with marriage certificate of Susan Lardner and Baron von Ziegesar
- ^ Births England and Wales 1837–1915
- ^ "Open university chancellor and window cleaner among 5,800 latest graduates". The Times. 28 January 1977.
- ^ "No. 31252". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 March 1919. p. 3970.
- ^ Crying All The Way to the Bank – Liberace v. The Daily Mirror and Cassandra, by Revel Barker, 2009
- ODNB article by Nicholls of Birkenhead, 'Evershed, (Francis) Raymond, Baron Evershed (1899–1966)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 27 March 2008.
- ^ Bar Council website (Accessed 27 March 2008).
- ^ "No. 43222". The London Gazette. 17 January 1964. p. 467.
- ^ Enacted as the British Telecommunications Act 1981 c. 38
- ^ The Times, Wednesday, 20 May 1981; pg. 5; Issue 60932; col G "House of Lords Lord Gardiner thought his phone was bugged."
- ^ Parker Report online source.
- ^ "No. 46444". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1975. p. 23.
- ^ "Bomb meant for Gardiner, IRA claims". The Times. No. 60954. London. 15 June 1981. p. 1.
- ISBN 0-575-03269-3
- ^ "Deaths England and Wales 1984–2006". Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1990. p. 497.
- ^ "Life Peerages - G". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ The Papers of Gerald Gardiner at Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College
- ^ Gerald Gardiner Papers, archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 15 May 2020