Sir Harold Derbyshire (25 December 1886 – 14 September 1972) was an

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barrister, judge and

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politician.

Background and education

Derbyshire was born in

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Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

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, the son of James Derbyshire and Elizabeth Kate Chew. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, and then on a scholarship at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he studied

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. He afterwards gained an

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. In 1915 he married Dorothea Alice Taylor in Blackburn.The Liberal Year Book of 1929

Legal career

Derbyshire was admitted to

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, where he was called to the Bar in 1911. He practised on the

Northern Circuit {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Northern Circuit is a court circuit in England. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but in 1876 i ...

and was made a KC in 1928. He was elected a

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of Gray's Inn in 1931. From 1933-34 he served as

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in the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. From 1934 to 1946 he was Chief Justice at the

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. In 1948 he was the Inn's Treasurer. He retired from public life in 1950.

Military service

Derbyshire served with distinction during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the

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in France and Belgium, and was awarded the MC in the

1918 Birthday Honours The 1918 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, 3 June a ...

Political service

In the 1923 General Election he contested the seat of

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and in the 1929 General Election that of

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...

, standing for the Liberal Party, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Electoral record

Sources

* ''

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'', vol. 7: 1971-80. A & C Black and

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derbyshire, Harold 1886 births 1972 deaths English barristers Members of Gray's Inn 20th-century English judges Chief Justices of the Calcutta High Court People from Blackburn Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Recipients of the Military Cross People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn British India judges Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Military personnel from Lancashire British Army personnel of World War I Royal Artillery officers