Sir John Bilsland Bailey (5 November 1928 – 22 February 2021) was a British

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and public servant. Bailey was born in Eltham, London to Walter Bailey (died 1932), who ran the Lord Derby pub opposite Woolwich Arsenal, and the composer

Ethel Edith Bilsland Ethel Edith Bilsland (20 January 1892 – 2 November 1982) was an English composer, soprano and pianist. Born in Plumstead, Kent, she was the younger daughter of James Bilsland and Mary Ann Moore. It was a musical family. Bilsland studied at the R ...

, who married secondly Sir

Thomas George Spencer Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, a telecommunications executive. His first cousin was the actor John Bailey. He was educated at Eltham College and graduated from University College London with a law degree and was admitted as a

in 1954. He was appointed an Under-Secretary in the

Treasury Solicitor's Department The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office go ...

in 1973, and then served as Legal Director of the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...

between 1977 and 1979, when he became Deputy Treasury Solicitor. He was promoted in 1984 to be HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor, serving until 1988."Bailey, Sir John Bilsland"
''Who's Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 3 January 2018. Bailey was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the

1982 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1982 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, and he was promoted to Knight Commander in the

1987 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppl ...

. He died in London from pneumonia 22 February 2021, at the age of 92."Births, Marriages and Deaths"
'' The Times'' (London), 2 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.

References

1928 births 2021 deaths English solicitors Alumni of University College London Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Eltham College Treasury Solicitors People from Eltham Deaths from pneumonia in England {{UK-law-bio-stub