Jocelyn Edward Salis Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale, (15 January 19117 May 2006) was a

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House o ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, having been, by turns, a barrister, a commissioned officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, a barrister again, a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician, a government minister, and a judge. He held three ministerial positions in the government of Harold Macmillan, during his 11-year tenure as a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. He also served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of 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 ...

(now the

Family 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 ...

) of High Court for nine years, and was a

for 6 years before his retirement in 1977. Simon's appointment, as of 2015, marks the last appointment of a former member of the House of Commons as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (although

Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, (1 August 1905 – 7 September 1980), known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative pol ...

, appointed before Simon but retiring after Simon, was the last serving law lord to have previously served in the Commons.) As noted by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' in his obituary, "Jack Simon was the last of a breed of judges who first pursued a successful career in politics before promotion to the Bench."

Early life

Simon was born in Hampstead in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the son of Claire and Frank Cecil Simon. His father was a stockbroker. He was educated at Gresham's School, in

Holt, Norfolk Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to 3 ...

and read English at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He was elected an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

of Trinity Hall in 1963. He was called to the bar at

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, and joined the chambers of

Tom Denning Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 wh ...

(later Lord Denning MR), practising mainly in family law and trust law. In 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 ...

, he joined the

Inns of Court Regiment The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR) was a British Army regiment that existed under that name between May 1932 and May 1961. However, the unit traces its lineage back much further, to at least 1584, and its name lives on today within 68 (Inns of Cour ...

and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment. He commanded a special service squadron of three

Valentine tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter ...

s of the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

in the invasion of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

in 1942 and the subsequent six-month campaign to liberate it from

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

control. He later fought with the 36th Division in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. He was mentioned in dispatches, and ended the war as a lieutenant colonel. He returned to legal practice in 1946, and was appointed King's Counsel in 1951. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving person to have been originally appointed as King's Counsel.

Political career

Simon's career then took a political turn: at the 1951 general election which returned

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 ...

to office, he was elected as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Middlesbrough West, winning the seat from

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 ...

. He held the seat for 11 years. Despite continuing his legal practice, he was attentive to constituency matters, and increased his majority in the 1955 general election. Politically, he was a founder of the One Nation Group. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, Sir

Lionel Heald Sir Lionel Frederick Heald, QC, PC (7 August 1897 – 8 November 1981) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. Early life Heald was born in Parrs Wood, Didsbury, Lancashire. He was educated at Charterhouse, then served ...

, for three years, and then held three ministerial positions. He was appointed as a

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the Home Office in 1957. He took charge of the bill that became the

Homicide Act 1957 The Homicide Act 1957 (5 & 6 Eliz.2 c.11) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted as a partial reform of the common law offence of murder in English law by abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice (except in limi ...

, earning the respect of

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

, then

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

. A year later, the ministerial team at the Treasury resigned en masse;

Derick Heathcoat-Amory Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory, , ( ; 26 December 1899 – 20 January 1981) was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1958 and 1960, and later as Chance ...

became the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing

Peter Thorneycroft George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft, (26 July 1909 – 4 June 1994) was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1957 and 1958. Early life Born in Dunston, Staffordshire, Thorn ...

and Simon was promoted to become

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

, replacing

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

. Simon held this second office for only one year, being appointed Solicitor-General in 1959 to replace Sir Harry Hylton-Foster on his election as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

; meanwhile, Sir

Reginald Manningham-Buller Reginald Edward Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, (1 August 1905 – 7 September 1980), known as Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, Bt, from 1954 to 1962 and as The Lord Dilhorne from 1962 to 1964, was an English lawyer and Conservative pol ...

was Attorney General. Simon was rewarded on taking this third office with a

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 ...

, and became a Privy Councillor in 1961.

Judicial career

Simon seemed destined for a seat in the Cabinet. However, after three years as Solicitor-General, he resigned from his office and his seat in Parliament in 1962, to widespread surprise, to become a High Court judge, and President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, replacing Lord Merriman. His legal practice at the family bar had prepared him for this position perfectly. The year after taking office, he had an operation to remove a benign tumour. The operation left him paralysed on one side of his face: he had a

speech impediment Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...

and also lost the use of his right eye; he habitually wore a black eye-patch thereafter, which gave him somewhat of a piratical air. He remained President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division for nine years, until he was created a Life peer as Baron Simon of Glaisdale, of

Glaisdale Glaisdale is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England, within the North York Moors National Park. It lies at on the River Esk, between the villages of Lealholm and Egton Bridge, west of Whitby, an ...

in the North Riding of the County of York on 5 February 1971 and appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He retired from judicial office in 1977, but continued to attend 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 took a close interest in legislation. He sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords, despite earlier sitting in the House of Commons and holding ministerial office as a Conservative. He was strongly opposed to Henry VIII clauses. He proposed a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

in 1981 to reform the spelling of

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

by adopting certain practices from

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

, such as replacing "-ours" endings with "-ors".

Lord-Lieutenancy

He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant for

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

in 1973.

Family

He married his first wife, Gwendolen Evans, in 1934. She died in 1937. He married his second wife, Fay, in 1948; they had three sons. One, Sir

Peregrine Simon Sir Peregrine Charles Hugo Simon (born 20 June 1950), is a retired Lord Justice of Appeal. Education and career He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar, Middle Temple in 1973. He was appointed ...

, also became a barrister and High Court judge.

Arms

References

Sources

Obituary
(''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
(''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
(''

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 ...

'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
(''

'', 9 May 2006)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Jocelyn 1911 births 2006 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Royal Tank Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire English barristers 20th-century King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Members of the Middle Temple Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Simon of Glaisdale Simon of Glaisdale People educated at Gresham's School UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages Solicitors General for England and Wales Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Jewish British politicians Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 20th-century English lawyers Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division Life peers created by Elizabeth II