Sir Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques (17 October 1890 – 2 December 1961) was a British philanthropist of Portuguese Jewish origins, concentrating his work in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during the first half of the 20th century.

Education

From a prominent

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish family, Henriques was educated at Harrow. He studied Modern History at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, and graduated with a

third class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in 1913.

First World War

Henriques served in the

Tank Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armo ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, taking part in the Battle of Flers where his tank, C22, was ordered to clear the Quadrilateral to the north east of Ginchy. During this operation his tank mistakenly engaged soldiers from

The Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

, resulting in several fatalities.

Professional life

In addition to writing reforms to religious Jewish ceremonies, Henriques set up boys' clubs for deprived Jewish children. In 1914, Henriques founded the Oxford and St George's Club; this later developed into the Bernhard Baron St George's Jewish Settlement. The boys received education, vocational training, recreation and holidays in the country. From 1923 until 1950, he would frequently send deprived, sick or merely tired children to his country home, Southcote Cottage, at Southcote,

Linslade Linslade is a town in the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England. It borders the town of Leighton Buzzard, with which it forms the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade (where the 2011 Census population was included). ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

for rest and recuperation. The cottage, in reality a large house, was loaned to him by his friend and fellow Jew

Anthony Gustav de Rothschild Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (26 June 1887 – 5 February 1961) was a British banker and member of the Rothschild family. Biography Born in London, England, he was the third and youngest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) ...

, Southcourt being part of Rothschild’s Ascott Estate. In 1923 Henriques became a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, and was named a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 1948 Birthday Honours. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1955. He served as chairman of the East London Juvenile Court for 19 years, and served as a magistrate for 32 years. He retired from the Bench in 1956.

Legacy

The former Berner Street in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

was renamed

Henriques Street The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the largely impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have b ...

in his honour.

Controversies

NSPCC

During his time as a magistrate, Henriques criticised the work of the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

on a number occasions. As part of his 1950 book ''The Indiscretions of a Magistrate,'' Henriques argued that legal supervision by a

probation officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probati ...

was more effective than voluntary supervision by an officer of the NSPCC.

Working mothers

In 1950, during the annual conference of the

Magistrates' Association The Magistrates' Association is the membership organisation for magistrates in England and Wales. By virtue of its education and training functions it is a charitable organisation and is funded by its members to promote the magistracy. History ...

, Henriques spoke in favour of a motion which condemned 'women who go out to work and prefer the privileges of marriage to its responsibilities'. Henriques argued that

Women seem to think themselves rivals and equals to men in all things, but they are only superior in some things such as washing the baby and washing up. The proper place for the mother is in her home, and there is no greater cause of
juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
than when the relationship between mother and child has been cast away.

The motion was eventually defeated by 145 votes to 126.

Written work

Basil Henriques was the author of several books, mostly concerned with the care of youth, including: *(1933) ''Club Leadership''. *(1937) ''The Indiscretions of a Warden''. *(1945) ''What is Judaism''. *(1950) ''The Indiscretions of a Magistrate''. *(1951) ''Fratres: Club Boys in Uniform, an Anthology''. *(1955) ''The Home-menders: the Prevention of Unhappiness in Children''. In his role as a children's court magistrate, he also wrote the foreword to

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

's novel ''The Six Bad Boys'' (1951), which relates the bad consequences of family breakdown for six boys, culminating in their appearing in a children's court for theft. Henriques, in his foreword, praises Blyton for her treatment of this subject, and stresses the negative effects of broken homes on children – one of the major themes of this novel.

Personal life

Henriques married Rose Loewe in 1916, and they worked together throughout their marriage. His sister was married to the well known

angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * ''Angler'' (video game) * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish * More generally, any anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes * '' Angler: The Cheney Vice Pres ...

Reginald Beddington, and their son was the artist and writer

Roy Beddington Roy Beddington (16 June 1910 – 31 May 1995) was a British painter, illustrator, fisherman, poet, writer on fishing, and journalist. As an artist he was known for his watercolours, with his first one-man shows being at Grafton and Walker's ga ...

Death

Henriques died on 2 December 1961, aged 71. In 1966, Rose, Lady Henriques published a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of her husband, entitled ''Years in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

.''

References

External links

Oxford and St George Clubs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henriques, Basil 1890 births 1961 deaths British Jewish writers English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent People educated at Harrow School Alumni of University College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I Royal Tank Regiment officers English Sephardi Jews Burials at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor 20th-century British philanthropists English people of Portuguese descent