Sir Henry Josceline Phillimore, OBE, PC (25 December 1910 – 4 June 1974) was an English barrister and judge, who served as a Lord Justice of Appeal from 1968 to 1974.

Biography

Henry Phillimore was the son of Charles Augustus Phillimore, a partner at

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Bank. His father's cousin was the prominent judge Walter Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore, himself the son of the judge

Sir Robert Phillimore, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore, 1st Baronet (5 November 1810 – 4 February 1885), was an English judge and politician. He was the last Judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1867 to 1875 bringing an end to an office that had lasted nearly 400 ...

and grandson of the lawyer

Joseph Phillimore Joseph Phillimore (1775–1855) was an English civil lawyer and politician, Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford from 1809. Life The eldest son of Joseph Phillimore, vicar of Orton on the Hill, Leicestershire, by Mary, daughter of John Mac ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, where he was an Oppidan, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took

second-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 Greats. He was called to the bar by 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 ...

in 1934. He was the pupil of Edward Pearce, and after his

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which bar ...

joined his chambers. He joined the Western circuit and acquired a varied practice. He joined the Territorial Army as a gunner in July 1939, and was commissioned in December the same year. After serving in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, he joined the Prisoner of War Department at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. He attended the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

in 1944. The following year, he was promoted

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and was appointed continental secretary of the British War Crimes Executive. He then served as leading junior counsel of the British prosecution team at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...

in 1945–46. He was appointed OBE in 1946. After the Nuremberg Trials, Phillimore returned to his old chambers. He was

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of Poole between 1946–54 and Recorder of Winchester between 1954 and 1959. He

took silk 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 a ...

in 1952. In 1959, Phillimore was appointed a Justice of the High Court and assigned to the

Probate, Divorce and Admiralty 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 ...

, receiving the customary

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 ...

. In 1962 he was transferred to the Queen's Bench Division on the retirement of Mr Justice Hilbery. In 1968, he was promoted to the Court of Appeal, on the elevation of Lord Justice Diplock to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

, and was sworn of the Privy Council. He retired in April 1974 and died two months later. Phillimore was a member of the Royal Commission on Assizes and Quarter Sessions, which recommended their abolition, between 1967 and 1969, and was chairman of the Committee on Contempt of Court from 1971 to 1974. The report of the committee, sometimes known as the Phillimore Report, led to the

Contempt of Court Act 1981 The Contempt of Court Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It codifies some aspects of the common law offence of contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobed ...

Family

Phillimore married Katharine Mary, daughter of Lieutenant-Commander L. C. Maude-Roxby, in 1938; they had two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillimore, Henry Knights Bachelor 1974 deaths English King's Counsel People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple British Army personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Queen's Bench Division judges Fellows of Eton College 20th-century King's Counsel