Jeremy Nicolas Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, (28 March 1915 – 13 November 2017) was a British barrister. He was the son of St John Hutchinson, KC, and his wife, Mary Barnes, and was descended from the regicide Colonel John Hutchinson of

Owthorpe Owthorpe is a small English village and civil parish in the Wolds of the East Midland county of Nottinghamshire. The population of about 90 was included in the civil parish of Cotgrave in the 2011 Census. Location and governance Owthorpe is a ...

. Standing as a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate in the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

, he finally entered Parliament as a life peer in 1978, eventually voting with the Liberal Democrats.

Education

Hutchinson was educated at Stowe School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in Modern Greats (now called Philosophy, Politics and Economics).

Career

Hutchinson was called to the Bar in 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 1939 and served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during

World War II 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 opposing ...

, surviving the torpedoing of the destroyer HMS Kelly in 1941. He was the Labour Party candidate for the constituency of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

at the

; he canvassed 10 Downing Street and when informed that the "tenant" (Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

) was out of the country, he addressed the staff. He worked on the defence team in the

Lady Chatterley trial ''R v Penguin Books Ltd'' was the public prosecution in the United Kingdom of Penguin Books under the ''Obscene Publications Act 1959'' for the publication of D. H. Lawrence's 1928 novel ''Lady Chatterley's Lover''. The trial took place over ...

in 1960 and became a

Queen'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 o ...

in 1961. He was 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 ca ...

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 ...

of Bath and of the Crown Court between 1963 and 1988. He also led the defence of the art thief Kempton Bunton in 1965. He led the defence of director

Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov (15 December 1938 – 16 April 2017) was a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for young people. Early years Bogdanov was born Michael Bogd ...

in 1982 against a charge of gross indecency in the play ''

The Romans in Britain ''The Romans in Britain'' is a 1980 stage play by Howard Brenton that comments upon imperialism and the abuse of power. It was the subject of a private prosecution brought by the conservative moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse for gross indecency. ...

'' by Howard Brenton. The private prosecution by Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse was defeated when the chief witness against Bogdanov, Whitehouse's solicitor, Graham Ross-Cornes, revealed under cross-examination that he had been sitting at the back of the theatre when he saw what was claimed to be a penis. The prosecution withdrew after Hutchinson demonstrated that Ross-Cornes could have witnessed the actor's thumb protruding from his fist and the case was ended after the Attorney-General entered a nolle prosequi. Hutchinson was a member of the Committee on Immigration Appeals and of the Committee on Identification Procedures. Hutchinson was Vice-Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and a Professor of Law at the Royal Academy of Arts. At the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, he was first a trustee and then Chairman. On 16 May 1978, Hutchinson was created a life peer with the title Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, of Lullington in the County of East Sussex. He later took leave of absence from 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 on 3 October 2011; he became one of the first two peers to retire from membership under a newly instituted procedure. Following the death of

Edward Short, Baron Glenamara Edward Watson Short, Baron Glenamara, (17 December 1912 – 4 May 2012) was a British Labour Party politician and deputy leader of the Labour Party. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and served as a minister du ...

, in May 2012, Hutchinson became the oldest living life peer. Hutchinson was four years older than

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secret ...

, who was the oldest sitting member of the

Personal life

Hutchinson was married first to actress

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

, between 1940 and 1965, with whom he had two children: *

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French footballer * Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player Other uses * Hon (Baltimore), a cultural stereotype of ...

Eliza Hutchinson (born 1941) * Hon Nicholas St John Hutchinson (born 1946) He had six grand-children including

Emily Loizeau Emily Loizeau (born 7 February 1975) is a French author, composer, and singer. Her debut album, released in 2006, was titled ''L'autre bout du monde'' (The Other Side of the World). Biography Loizeau was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, ...

. He later married June Osborn; she died on 26 September 2006. In October 2013, Hutchinson appeared as a guest on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

''. His musical choices were: "Don't Have any More Missus Moore," by

Lily Morris Lily Morris (born Lilles Mary Crosby; 30 September 1882 – 3 October 1952)Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.252-253 was an English music hall performer, who specialised in singing comed ...

, "Dance of the Miller's Wife" from ''

The Three-Cornered Hat ''El sombrero de tres picos'' (''The Three-Cornered Hat'' or ''Le tricorne'') is a ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine to music by Manuel de Falla. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and premiered in 1919. It is not only a ballet with S ...

'' by de Falla, " Tea for Two" by

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of many ...

, "Ah Dite alla giovine" by Giuseppe Verdi, "The Rumble" from ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'', the Andante from Piano concerto in C major by Mozart, "L'autre bout du Monde" by

and the Sonata Opus 110 by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. Hutchinson lived in Sussex and London. He celebrated his hundredth birthday on 28 March 2015. He died on 13 November 2017, at the age of 102.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Jeremy 1915 births 2017 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English barristers English centenarians English King's Counsel Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Hutchinson of Lullington Members of the Middle Temple Men centenarians People educated at Stowe School 20th-century King's Counsel Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II 20th-century English lawyers Life peers created by Elizabeth II