Sir John Saye Wingfield Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, KCB, QC (14 April 1911 – 21 April 1996) was a British lawyer and parliamentary draftsman.

Early life

Fiennes was born on 14 April 1911, the son of Gerald Yorke Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes and his wife Gwendolen, ''née'' Gisborne; part of the

Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family The Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family are the descendants of the 16th Baron Saye and Sele who was born Frederick Benjamin Twistleton and adopted the surname Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes in 1849 by Act of Parliament. He was the grandson of Thomas Twi ...

, on his father's side he was the great-grandson of Frederick Fiennes, 16th Baron Saye and Sele.''Burke's Peerage'' (2003), vol. 3, pp. 3533–3534. Educated as " Founders' kin" at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

(he was descended from

William of Wykeham William of Wykeham (; 1320 or 1324 – 27 September 1404) was Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England. He founded New College, Oxford, and New College School in 1379, and founded Winchester College in 1382. He was also the clerk of wor ...

), Fiennes went up to Balliol College, Oxford, where he read classics; graduating in 1934 with a first-class degree, he won several named

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

and the

Gaisford Prize The Gaisford Prize is a prize in the University of Oxford, founded in 1855 in memory of Thomas Gaisford, Dr Thomas Gaisford (1779–1855). For most of its history, the prize was awarded for Ancient Greek, Classical Greek Verse and Prose. The priz ...

."Sir John Fiennes", ''The Times'' (London), 23 April 1996, p. 21.

Career

Called to the bar in 1936, Fiennes carried out

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 ...

s under F. E. Farrer and J. Neville Gray, and then practised privately before joining the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in 1939. His work there was considered essential to the war effort, sparing him from military service during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. From 1952 to 1958 and again from 1962 to 1966 he was responsible for drafting Finance Bills. He was appointed Second Parliamentary Counsel in 1956 and promoted to First Parliamentary Counsel in 1968, serving until retirement in 1972. Appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1953, Fiennes was promoted to Knight Commander in 1970; 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 ...

of 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 ...

and

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 1972."Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, Sir John (Saye Wingfield)"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 7 November 2018. Fiennes's work involved drafting several important acts, including the Companies Act 1947, the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

, the

Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 The Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 (c. 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers occupiers' liability. The result of the Third Report of the Law Reform Committee, the Act was introduced to Parliament as the Occupiers' Li ...

, the

Charities Act 1960 A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ...

, the

Leasehold Reform Act 1967 The Leasehold Reform Act 1967c 88 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which concerns English land law and compulsory purchase. A government bill, the law remains largely intact. It was passed by both Houses and had been tabled by mini ...

, the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of decepti ...

, the Immigration Act 1971 and the European Communities Act 1972. He spent a year away from the OPC from 1962 to 1963 to help draft Malaya's constitution. ''

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'' (f ...

'' called Fiennes "unquestionably the ablest draftsman of this century ... his amazing memory was stored with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and its history ... he was in the same class as his great Victorian predecessor Lord Thring". His ability to craft succinct legislation in plain language – like the 1957 and 1972 acts – was his strong point, although in some cases his subtle language also proved difficult to amend. Fiennes lived in Suffolk in retirement. He died on 21 April 1996; his wife Sylvia, ''née'' McDowall, had died in 1979, but he was survived by their three children.

Photograph

A black and white photographic portrait was reproduced in his obituary in ''The Times''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiennes, John 1911 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English lawyers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel First Parliamentary Counsel Members of the Middle Temple