Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds
PC | |
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Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | |
In office 30 October 1951 – 18 October 1954 | |
Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
Preceded by | The Viscount Jowitt |
Succeeded by | The Viscount Kilmuir |
Personal details | |
Born | 28 November 1881 Reading, Berkshire |
Died | 28 June 1971 Westminster, London | (aged 89)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Conservative |
Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
Gavin Turnbull Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds,
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
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.
The Shaw v DPP case
In 1962 Simonds achieved some notoriety in the case of Shaw v DPP,
"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".
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
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References
- ^ "No. 32928". The London Gazette. 18 April 1924. p. 3205.
- ^ "No. 34377". The London Gazette. 5 March 1937. p. 1486.
- ^ "No. 34379". The London Gazette. 12 March 1937. p. 1640.
- ^ a b "No. 36481". The London Gazette. 21 April 1944. p. 1841.
- ^ "ROYALTY - CORONATION OF ELIZABETH II". Bonhams.
- ^ "No. 39584". The London Gazette. 27 June 1952. p. 3520.
- ^ "No. 40313". The London Gazette. 29 October 1954. p. 6124.
- ^ Shaw v DPP [1962] AC 220 House of Lords
- ^ "Shaw v DPP". e-lawresources.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "Simonds, Viscount (UK, 1954 - 1971)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2022.