Eustace Wentworth Roskill, Baron Roskill, PC (6 February 1911 – 3 October 1996) was a British lawyer and public servant.

Background and education

Roskill was the youngest of four sons of John Roskill KC. His mother Sybil was the daughter of the traveller and politician

Ashton Wentworth Dilke Ashton Wentworth Dilke (11 August 1850 – 12 March 1883) was an editor, British traveller and radical Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1883. Life Dilke was the younger son of Sir Charles Dilke, 1st Baronet, and w ...

. Roskill's oldest brother was Sir Ashton Roskill QC; another older brother

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer and historian. He was educated as an

exhibitioner An exhibition is a type of scholarship award or bursary. United Kingdom and Ireland At the universities of Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield, at some public schools, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a sma ...

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and went then to

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

, where he graduated first class with a Bachelor of Arts in 1932, winning an honorary scholarship in modern history. Roskill studied afterwards as a Harmsworth Law Scholar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

and was called to the bar in 1933. Thereafter he worked at the Commercial Bar.

Career

With the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, Roskill, having previously suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, was not conscripted into active service, but became employed at the Ministry of Shipping until 1941 and subsequently at its successor the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

until the end of the war in 1945. He was nominated a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1950, assigned to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and became deputy chairman of the county's

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

in the year thereafter.Who's Who (1963), p. 2685 Roskill was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1953 and chaired the Quarter Session from 1960. A year later he became

Commissioner of Assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

, serving in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and was elected a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

by the Middle Temple. In 1962 Roskill received an appointment as judge on the

High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division) The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

and was therefore knighted.Dod (1996), p. 308 He became the new president of the Senate of the Inns of Court and the Bar, when it was formed in 1967. Roskill filled a vacancy as

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

in 1971 and on this occasion was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. Following the death of

Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, (1 August 1905 – 7 September 1980), known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative pol ...

in 1980, he replaced him as

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, receiving the usual

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age with the title Baron Roskill, of Newtown, in the County of Hampshire. Six years later he retired. From 1957 Roskill chaired the trust of the

Horris Hill School Horris Hill, is an independent day and boarding preparatory school for boys aged 4–13. It is located in Hampshire in England, south of Newbury in West Berkshire and near the village of Newtown. The school was founded on its present site in 1 ...

. When the

Parole Board for England and Wales The Parole Board for England and Wales () was established in 1968 under the Criminal Justice Act 1967. It became an independent executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) on 1 July 1996 under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. The ...

was established in 1968, he was chosen as its first vice-chairman. From 1968 to 1971 he chaired the

Roskill Commission The Roskill Commission (formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) was a UK Government Commission charged with looking into finding a site for a new airport for London. Chaired by High Court judge Eustace Roskill, it sat from 1968 to ...

(formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) which recommended

Cublington Cublington is a village and one of 110 civil parishes within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about seven miles (11 km) north of Aylesbury. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means "Cubbel's estate". ...

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 ...

as the site of a new airport for London. During his time as Lord of Appeal he sat in the

Appellate Committee Whilst the House of Lords of the United Kingdom is the upper chamber of Parliament and has government ministers, it for many centuries had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachments, ...

as well as in the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

. After his retirement in 1986, Roskill chaired the Fraud Trials Committee and a year later became also chairman of the appeals committee of the

Panel on Takeovers and Mergers The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, or more commonly The Takeover Panel, is the United Kingdom's regulatory body charged with the administration of The Takeover Code. It was set up in 1968 and is located in London, England. Its role is to ensu ...

, a position he held until 1993. In his last years he served as an arbitrator.

Family

In 1947, he married Elisabeth, third daughter of Thomas Frame Jackson; the couple had a son and two daughters.Debrett (2008), p. 1220 Roskill died at

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

in 1996. Lady Roskill died in January 2014.

Arms

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roskill, Eustace 1911 births 1996 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford British King's Counsel 20th-century English judges Knights Bachelor Law lords Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of the Middle Temple People educated at Winchester College Lawyers from London Queen's Bench Division judges 20th-century King's Counsel People from Newtown, Hampshire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 20th-century English lawyers