Charles James Dalrymple Shaw, Baron Kilbrandon, PC (15 August 1906 – 10 September 1989) was a Scottish judge and

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 of ...

Family and education

He was the son of James Edward Shaw and his wife Gladys Elizabeth Lester (the daughter of the Rev.

John Moore Lester John Moore Lester (4 September 1851 – 24 December 1919) was a British priest who served as Rector of Litchborough and Rural Dean of Lichfield. He was the son of Frederick Lester. Lester was a clergyman and academic and grandfather of James ...

and granddaughter of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir Frederick Parkinson Lester). Shaw was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and went then to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. He finally graduated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. On 5 April 1937, he married Ruth Caroline Grant and had by her two sons and three daughters.

Judicial career

Shaw was elected to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constitu ...

in 1932 and was appointed its

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

in 1957. After his military service 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 opposin ...

, he was nominated a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1949. He was Sheriff of Ayr and Bute from 1954 and subsequently

Sheriff of Perth and Angus Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1957. Two years later, he became a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

and Lord of Session, choosing the judicial title Lord Kilbrandon. Shaw chaired the

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...

in 1965. He was appointed a

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary 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 of ...

on 4 October 1971 and received the traditional

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

age as Baron Kilbrandon, of Kilbrandon, in the

County of Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. In the same year he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. Shaw was chancellor of the

Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness The Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers Caithness and Sutherland (the old Diocese of Caithness), mainland Ross and Cromarty (the old Diocese of Ross), and mainland Inver ...

as well as of the Diocese of Argyll and The Isles and acted as director of the

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five National performing arts companies of Scotland, national performing arts compa ...

. He was chairman of the

Scottish Transport Council Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

and of the Standing Consultative Council on Youth Service in Scotland.

Honours and legacy

During his career Shaw were awarded the honorary degrees of a

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL. ...

by the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

and a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

by his old alma mater, the University of Edinburgh.

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

made him an honorary bencher and Balliol College an honorary fellow. His most important contribution to public life was probably his work as chairman of Royal Commission on the Constitution (commonly referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission) from 1972. He also chaired a committee on children in trouble. Nearly all its recommendations were enacted in new bills and created the basic structures of child care practices and policies in Scotland.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Charles 1906 births 1989 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of World War II Scottish King's Counsel Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Kilbrandon Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Charterhouse School 20th-century King's Counsel Kilbrandon Place of birth missing Members of the Faculty of Advocates Deans of the Faculty of Advocates

Family and education

Judicial career

Honours and legacy

See also

References

External links