Laurence Cecil Bartlett Gower (29 December 1913 – 25 December 1997) known as 'Jim' and universally credited as "LCB Gower" in his writings, was a lawyer and academic who was

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

from 1971–79.S M Cretney: ''Gower, Laurence Cecil Bartlett (Jim) (1913–1997)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008, accessed 27 Aug 2013
/ref>
/ref>

Early life

He was born in

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

, London (then part of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

) and educated at Lindisfarne College. He then attended

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

graduating

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

with first class honours in 1933 and

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1934. He qualified as a solicitor in 1937.

War service

He served in the army throughout

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 ...

initially in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(RA) as a Private where he served under

Sir Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales a ...

. He ended service as a

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

(RAOC). He was involved in the planning at

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...

of the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

in France.

Academic career

After leaving the army, he commenced academic work as a lecturer in law at University College, London. He was also Sir Ernest Cassel Professor of Commercial Law at

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

from 1948 to 1952 and visiting professor at Harvard Law School from 1954 to 1955. He became professor and dean of the Faculty of Law,

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

from 1962 to 1965 and subsequently vice-chancellor, University of Southampton from 1971 to 1979. During his time at Southampton, there was increasing financial stringency and increasing student numbers. However, the new Medical School expanded and there was provision of special residential facilities for disabled students. All first year students were able to live in university accommodation. At the same time, he served on Harold Wilson's Royal Commission on the Press. After retirement he was asked by the Department of Trade to provide advice to the Government on financial services resulting in the Financial Services Act 1986. He is best known for his work in the

UK company law The United Kingdom company law regulates corporations formed under the Companies Act 2006. Also governed by the Insolvency Act 1986, the UK Corporate Governance Code, European Union Directives and court cases, the company is the primary lega ...

, where he authored the leading treatise, now taken over by

PL Davies Paul Lyndon Davies QC, FBA (born 24 September 1944) is Allen & Overy Professor of Corporate Law Emeritus at the University of Oxford, Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford and Emeritus Professor of Law at the London School of Economics, wher ...

Personal life

On 7 September 1939, he married Helen Margaret Shepperson (Peggy) Birch (1910/11–1999), a secondary school teacher, and they had two sons and a daughter. He died in Camden, London.

Publications

* ''The Principles of Modern Company Law'' (1954), pub. Sweet & Maxwell, 6th revised edition (24 July 1997), . *69(8) Harvard Law Review 1369
/ref>

References