Sir Stephen Gerald Howard (7 June 1896 – 25 June 1973) was a British farmer,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and judge who was an active

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

and later

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He had a junior role on the prosecution team in several celebrated trials in the immediate post-war era.

First World War

Howard was the son of Stephen Goodwin Howard, who was

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Sudbury between 1918 and 1922. He was sent to

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, but interrupted his education in 1916 to join the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. He became a Flight Lieutenant in 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 ...

on its formation in 1918. Later that year he left the RAF to go

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where he studied law.

Criminal law barrister

Following his father's political affiliations, Howard was a candidate at the 1922 general election for Eye in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

as a

with

support. In 1924, Howard was called to the Bar by

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 ...

. He became a criminal law barrister, generally appearing as a junior for the prosecution; he also remained very attached to East Anglia where he farmed on the family estate. While appearing not to have any personal interest in the way the case turned out, he was a skillful advocate and appeared in many high-profile cases. In November 1936, he was appointed to be third junior counsel for the crown (a crown prosecutor) at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

(Central Criminal Court). In December 1942 he 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 ...

of Lincoln's Inn.

Prominent trials

Howard was appointed

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

(a part-time judicial post) in 1943. He was adopted as Conservative Party candidate for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

in November 1944, but unexpectedly lost the seat in the 1945 general election by 44 votes. Earlier that year, Howard had prosecuted in the " Cleft chin murder trial". Howard was

High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

for the year 1945 to 1946, and became a senior Prosecuting Counsel at the end of the year. He was also Recorder of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

from 1947 and Chairman of

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 ...

for Cambridgeshire from 1947. The period between 1945 and 1950 saw Howard's most prominent cases. The week after the election he prosecuted

John Amery John Amery (14 March 1912 – 19 December 1945) was a British fascist and Nazi collaborator during World War II. He was the originator of the British Free Corps, a volunteer Waffen-SS unit composed of former British and Dominion prisoners-o ...

for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, and he was also third prosecution counsel at the trial of

William Joyce William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, J ...

('Lord Haw Haw') with

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Sir

Hartley Shawcross Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross, (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as Sir Hartley Shawcross, was an English barrister and Labour politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War ...

and Sir Lawrence Byrne. He prosecuted other treason trials arising out of the war. He was on the prosecution team for Thomas Ley and Lawrence Smith (the "Chalkpit murder") in 1947, and in 1949 he took part in the trial of

John George Haigh John George Haigh (; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...

, the "Acid Bath murderer".

Parliamentary career

At the 1950 general election, Howard was elected for Cambridgeshire, regaining the seat from Labour. He was made a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

on election and remained in practice as a prosecutor. In Parliament he remained loyal to the Conservative whip, and in 1952 successfully defended ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' against a charge arising out of advertisements issued during the 1951 general election criticising nationalisation. In 1952 he became Chairman of Quarter Sessions for East and West

and in 1958 he was made Recorder of

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Judgeship

In January 1961, Howard's name headed a list of new Judges of the High Court of Justice, on the

Queen'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 ...

, which vacated his seat in Parliament. He received a

knighthood 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 ...

with the appointment, as was traditional. Howard was on the Judicial Bench for ten years before retiring.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *"Who Was Who", A & C Black *Obituary, ''

'', 27 June 1973

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Gerald 1896 births 1973 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 20th-century English judges High Sheriffs of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 British Army personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Queen's Bench Division judges 20th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Knights Bachelor National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians Members of Lincoln's Inn People educated at Harrow School