Sir Frederick Francis Liddell (7 June 1865 – 19 March 1950) was a British lawyer and civil servant. He is noted for being First Parliamentary Counsel.

Early life

He was born in 1865, the son of

Henry Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is now named after h ...

, the

Dean of Christ Church, Oxford The Dean of Christ Church is the dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of ...

; his older sister, Alice, would become famous as the inspiration for the 1865 novel ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

''.''Times'' obituary He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he graduated in 1888 with first-class honours in '' Literae humaniores''. On leaving Oxford, he was appointed the private secretary to Sir Arthur Gordon, the Governor of Ceylon; after two years, when Gordon's tenure as governor expired, he returned home. In 1891 he became a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, a position he would hold until 1906. He won the Eldon Scholarship in 1892 and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1894.''Who Was Who''

Career

Liddell entered Charles Sargant's chambers at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, and a year later, on Sargant's advice, joined the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, then led by Henry Jenkyns and

Courtenay Ilbert Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, (12 June 1841 – 14 May 1924) was a distinguished British lawyer and civil servant who served as legal adviser to the Viceroy of India's Council for many years until his eventual return from India to England. H ...

. In 1902, he was appointed Second Parliamentary Counsel, and after the 1906 general election played a major part in helping prepare the large amount of new legislation the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

government aimed to pass. In 1917 he was appointed First Parliamentary Counsel. Among his major work was assisting the drafting of plans to reform the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

and create the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, as well as the reorganisation of substantial parts of the criminal law and the law of property, and an attempt to reform income tax. Following Irish independence, he created the legislative framework to rework the statute law affecting Ireland and limit it to the six counties of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Among his other legal work, he edited the ''Manual of Military Law''. In 1928, he was appointed Counsel to the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, and made a KC the following year. He had intended to retire in 1939, but was asked to stay on with the outbreak 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 ...

; he eventually retired in 1943, but even then remained active, assisting with the overhaul of the Standing Orders relating to Private Members' Business. He became an

Ecclesiastical Commissioner The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu ...

in 1944, finally retiring from public life in 1948. He married Mabel Magniac in 1901; the couple had three sons and one daughter. One of his sons, an officer in the

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 ...

, died at sea shortly after the end of the Second World War. His youngest son, Maurice, married Alix Kerr.

Notes

References

* "LIDDELL, Sir Frederick Francis", in * *Obituary in ''The Times'', p. 7, 20 March 1950. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liddell, Frederick Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Eton College English King's Counsel Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford First Parliamentary Counsel 1865 births 1950 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath 20th-century King's Counsel Liddell family British barristers English barristers