Sir George Malcolm Hilbery (14 July 1883 – 18 September 1965) was a British barrister and High Court judge.
The son of a
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
solicitor, Hilbery was educated at
University College School
("Slowly but surely")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, religion =
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Mark Beard
, r_head_label =
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, and was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
by
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 ...
in 1907. In 1927 he was elected 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 can ...
of his Inn and appointed
Recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
of
Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
. He
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 ...
in 1928.
In 1935, he was appointed to the
High Court and assigned to the
King's Bench Division
The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts.
It hears appeals on point ...
, receiving the customary
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 Gr ...
the same year. In 1959 he was made a
privy councillor
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 ...
.
He retired in 1962.
One of the most famous cases he presided over was the
murder of Gay Gibson
Eileen Isabella Ronnie Gibson (16 June 1926 – 18 October 1947),This means that two days before her death, Gibson was 21 years and five months old. The official court record from 1948 states that at "October last", Gibson was 21 years and four m ...
. On 30 October 1952, he gave Christopher Craig's older brother, Niven, 12 years imprisonment for carrying out an armed robbery. Three days later,
Christopher Craig shot dead PC Sidney Miles on a Croydon rooftop.
Hilbery wrote ''Duty and Art in Advocacy'', which was first published in 1946. For many years a copy of this little book was presented to every Barrister on their being called to the Bar by The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilbery, Malcolm
1883 births
1965 deaths
Queen's Bench Division judges
English King's Counsel
Members of Gray's Inn
People educated at University College School
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Knights Bachelor
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I