John Mervyn Guthrie Griffith-Jones (1 July 1909 – 13 July 1979) was a British

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and former

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. He led the prosecution of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

's ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...

''. His much quoted remark in his opening statement as to whether the novel was something "you would even wish your wife or servants to read" is often cited as representing the extent to which the British establishment had fallen out of touch with popular opinion at the time. He failed to convince the jury at the Chatterley trial, and the publishers were acquitted.

Early life

Griffith-Jones was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London. His father, John Stanley Phillips Griffith-Jones (1877/8–1949), was also a barrister. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

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 ...

, and was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

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 an ...

in 1932, specialising in criminal law. He served with the Coldstream Guards 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 opposin ...

, and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1943. After the war, he was one of the British prosecuting counsel at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

(as Junior Counsel).

Post-war legal career

He returned to the bar when he left the Army in October 1946 and became a specialist prosecuting counsel. He was counsel for the Crown at the north London quarter sessions from 1946 to 1950, and then at the

Central Criminal Court A Central Criminal Court refers to major legal court responsible for trying crimes within a given jurisdiction. Such courts include: *The name by which the Crown Court is known when it sits in the City of London *Central Criminal Court of England ...

at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

from 1950 to 1964. He became senior Treasury counsel in 1959, and became a founder member of the Criminal Law Revision Committee that year. In 1955, he was junior counsel to Christmas Humphreys for the prosecution of

Ruth Ellis Ruth Ellis ( née Neilson; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a British nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely. In her t ...

, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. He was known for prosecuting obscenity cases. At the 1954 trial of

Walter Baxter Walter Baxter (17 May 1915 – 25 July 1994) was an English novelist, best known for writing two controversial novels. His first novel, ''Look Down in Mercy'', received very positive reviews. He was prosecuted on obscenity charges after the pub ...

and

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

for publishing Baxter's 1953 novel ''The Image and the Search'', he asked jurors whether they would give the novel as a Christmas present "to the girls in the office; and if not, why not?", prefiguring the fateful question he posed at the opening of the ''Chatterley'' trial in 1960. Baxter and his publisher were acquitted. He led the prosecution of

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

format in the

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

trial held at the Old Bailey from 20 October to 2 November 1960. The book was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1959, a private members bill introduced by

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

, under which a work was considered in its entirety, and had a defence if it was justified by the public good. He asked jurors not to approach the novel "in any priggish, high-minded, super-correct mid-Victorian manner", but alleged that the novel induced "lustful thoughts in the minds of those who read it", and then asked, "...when you have read it through, would you approve of your young sons, young daughters – because girls can read as well as boys – reading this book? Is it a book that you would have lying around in your own house? Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read?" The jury reportedly found this question amusing, and it has been described as the "first nail in the prosecution's coffin". A procession of eminent defence witnesses attested to the worth of the novel, and Penguin Books was acquitted of obscenity on 2 November. In 1963 he was the prosecuting counsel in the trial of Stephen Ward, who was accused of living off the immoral earnings of

Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became s ...

and Mandy Rice-Davies following the Profumo affair. Ward took a drugs overdose on the last day of the trial, and died on 3 August after being convicted in his absence. After serving as

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 ...

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

and of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, he became a full-time

in 1964, presiding over criminal cases at the Old Bailey as the

Common Serjeant of London The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...

until 1979.

Outside the law

Griffith-Jones was a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

from 1948 to 1954, and became a

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1967. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1977. He was also an accomplished artist and held three exhibitions in London in the 1970s. He married Joan Clare Baker at St Peter's,

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

in January 1947. They had a daughter and two sons. He died of

renal failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

St Stephen's Hospital St Stephen's Hospital Delhi is one of the oldest and the largest private hospitals in New Delhi, India. The hospital today has 600 beds and is presently a superspeciality tertiary care hospital offering comprehensive care covering all major cli ...

in Chelsea in 1979, aged 70, survived by his wife and children. His son,

Robin Griffith-Jones Robin Griffith-Jones (born 1956) is a Church of England priest, Master of the Temple in London and a lecturer at King's College, London. Griffith-Jones was educated at Westminster School and New College, Oxford, before working at Christie's fo ...

, is the current Reverend and Valiant Master of the Temple. Griffith-Jones's aunt,

Anne Griffith-Jones Anne Laugharne Phillips Griffith-Jones OBE (15 April 1891 – 28 November 1973) was a British educationalist who founded Singapore's Tanglin Preparatory School, which is now known as the Tanglin Trust School. Early years Born in London, E ...

, founded the Tanglin Trust School,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Portrayal in popular culture

Mervyn Griffith-Jones has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theatre productions; * Jonathan Newth in the 1984 British film '' Champions'' * Daniel Massey in the 1989 British film '' Scandal'' *

Pip Torrens Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series ''The ...

in the 2006 British television production ''

The Chatterley Affair ''The Chatterley Affair'' is a BBC television drama, produced by BBC Wales and broadcast on BBC Four on 20 March 2006. It is a semi-fictitious account of the obscenity trial surrounding the publication of D. H. Lawrence's 1928 novel '' Lad ...

'' *

Paul Hickey Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

in the 2006 British television docudrama '' Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial'' *

Alex Macqueen Alexander Tulloch Macqueen (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor. He has appeared on television, film and radio in the UK in productions such as ''Holby City'', ''Doctor Who,'' ''Hut 33'', ''Peep Show'', ''The Thick of It'', ''Keeping Mu ...

in the 2020 British television drama ''

The Trial of Christine Keeler ''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' is a British television series based on the chain of events surrounding the Profumo affair in the 1960s. The six-part series premiered on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2019. The series was adapte ...

Notes

References

*Michael Beloff, 'Jones, (John) Mervyn Guthrie Griffith- (1909–1979)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 201
accessed 5 November 2010

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith-Jones, Mervyn 1909 births 1979 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Common Serjeants of London Coldstream Guards officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross English barristers 20th-century English lawyers British Army personnel of World War II