Geoffrey Lawrence, 3rd Baron Trevethin, 1st Baron Oaksey, (2 December 1880 – 28 August 1971) was the lead British

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

during the

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after

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and President of the International Military Tribunal.

Biography

The Lawrence family came from

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

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. Lawrence was born in London, England on 2 December 1880. Geoffrey Lawrence was the youngest son of Lord Trevethin, briefly

Lord Chief Justice of England The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English an ...

in 1921–22. He attended Haileybury (where

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

was his junior) and New College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Lawrence was called to the Bar by the

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in 1906, and later joined the chambers of Sir Robert Finlay. The chambers specialised in taking appellate cases to the highest courts—the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

for domestic cases, and 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 August ...

for appeals from the Dominions and Colonies. Finlay came to rely on Lawrence, although for cases from

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, Lawrence acted as lead counsel with Finlay as junior. On 26 September 1914, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, 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 in ...

(2nd

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). He was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 20 November 1914. He served in

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with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, was

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twice and as a major, was appointed to the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) in 1918. After the war he continued in membership of the Territorial Army until 1937. On returning to the Bar Lawrence continued to take cases to the Privy Council. An interest in horses, inherited from his father, led to his appointment as Attorney for the

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

from 1922. Soon after he was appointed as

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of Oxford, a part-time judgeship. In 1927 Lawrence was made a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

and appointed

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to the Prince of Wales (later

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

). With this appointment came membership of the Council of the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

. Lawrence served in this capacity until, in 1932, he was appointed as a judge of the

King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

. Two weeks after the

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

in 1938, Lawrence helped

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flee

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. As a judge, Lawrence tended to keep out of the limelight by neither issuing sensational judgments nor drawing attention to himself. When Lord Goddard was chosen as a

Law Lord 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 ...

, Lawrence succeeded him as a

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) Just ...

in 1944.

Nuremberg trials

He was chosen as an experienced judge to be the lead to Norman Birkett in the British delegation to the Judicial group in the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, though not (as some thought) arising out of his friendship with Attlee who was by then Prime Minister. He was then elected as President of all the Judges, more through the lack of enemies than any other factor. His conduct of the trials was praised by many of those involved who appreciated his striving to understand the relevance of each piece of evidence, and willingness to stop long-winded counsel. Lawrence was not considered an exceptional legal talent but won acclaim for delivering a very clear judgment (largely penned by Birkett) that expressed the moral sense of the Court's conclusions. After the trials, Lawrence was raised to the

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as Baron Oaksey, of

Oaksey Oaksey is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The village is about northeast of the market town of Malmesbury and a similar distance south south west of the ...

in the County of Wilts., on 13 January 1947 (he also inherited the Barony of Trevethin from his brother on 25 June 1959 but was always known as Lord Oaksey). As a senior legal figure in the House of Lords, he served as a

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 ...

from 1947 and on the

until he retired in 1957.

Personal life

Lawrence married Marjorie Frances Alice (1898–1984) on 22 December 1921. She served in the ATS in the Second World War, gaining the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, and became a magistrate after the war. They had a country estate at Oaksey in Wiltshire, where Lawrence bred championship

Guernsey cattle The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is fawn or red and white in colour, and is hardy and docile. Its milk is rich in flavour, high in fat and protein, and has a golden-yellow tinge due ...

. They had three daughters and a son. Their son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was a well known amateur

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

and horse racing journalist; he too only used the title Lord Oaksey.

Retirement and death

In retirement, Lord Oaksey, as he now was, dedicated himself to his farm, judging several county agricultural shows. Lord Oaksey died on 28 August 1971 in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oaksey, Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron 1880 births 1971 deaths Military personnel from London Geoffrey Lawrence, 1st Baron Oaksey Nobility from Wiltshire British people of Welsh descent People educated at Summer Fields School People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of New College, Oxford Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Lawrence, Geoffrey Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire Royal Field Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I British barristers Members of the Inner Temple English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Queen's Bench Division judges Law lords Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Judges of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg British judges of international courts and tribunals 3 Barons created by George VI Younger sons of barons Territorial Force officers