Sir Michael Robert Emanuel Kerr (1 March 1921 – 14 April 2002) was a German-born British jurist, author, lawyer and

High Court of Justice 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 of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

judge. He had been told, he said, that he was England's first "foreign-born judge" in 800 years, but he was careful neither to confirm nor to refute that suggestion.

Life and career

Michael Kerr was born in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the son of the composer-musician Julia Anna Franziska (Weismann) and the drama critic

Alfred Kerr Alfred Kerr (''né'' Kempner; 25 December 1867 – 12 October 1948, surname: ) was an influential German theatre critic and essayist of Jewish descent, nicknamed the ''Kulturpapst'' ("Culture Pope"). Biography Youth Kerr was born in Breslau, ...

. He was the brother of the author

Judith Kerr Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world.

. His family was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Kerr and his family were forced to leave their homeland at the end of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

by the emergence of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. After 1933, the Kerr family lived in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and finally 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, as noted in the work of Judith Kerr. His experience as an immigrant allowed him to perfect skills in not only

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

but also French and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Sponsored by a friend of his father, Kerr was educated at

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

. That and his immigration experience may have created a wish to emulate and join the

upper-middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

of his new homeland. Kerr was beginning his studies at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, when 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 ...

began. During the war, Kerr was at first identified as an ''

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

'' and interned at temporary camps around the country before he was sent to the Central Promenade Camp in

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...

. He was released on the intervention of the Home Secretary and later served as a pilot in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

; he reached the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. During the war he flew with No. 612 Squadron RAF in

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

bombers against

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

in the North Sea. After the war, he returned to Cambridge to study law and became a naturalised British subject in 1946. His career eventually led him to the

, where he believed that he was the first senior judge born an alien since the 12th century. Kerr chaired the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

from 1978 to 1981 before he served on the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

and finally on the

London Court of International Arbitration The London Court of International Arbitration is a British private company limited by guarantee with a head office in London. It offers dispute resolution through arbitration and mediation. History The City of London Chamber of Arbitration w ...

. Kerr married Julia Braddock in 1953 and had three children: Candy, Jo and Tim born in 1954, 1956 and 1958. The couple separated in 1977, but since Julia did not agree to the divorce, he had to wait the statutory five years. Tim was appointed to the High Court in 2015. Kerr married Diana Sneezum on 29 January 1983 and had two children: Lucy in 1984 and Alexander in 1987. They remained happily married until Kerr's death in 2002. In his autobiography ''As Far As I Remember'' he tells about his family, also reflected in books by his sister such as ''

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit ''Out of the Hitler Time'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Judith Kerr for children and young adults. ''When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'' ''When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'' is the first book in the trilogy and a well-known novel ...

'', and about his career in the British law system. His short analytic writing is reminiscent of his father's style.

Publication

* ''As Far As I Remember''. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland/Oregon 2002,

Arms

References

External links

Auf Knopfdruck Ihrer Majestät
(in

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Michael 1921 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 20th-century English judges English autobiographers People educated at Aldenham School Queen's Bench Division judges Jews who immigrated to the United Kingdom to escape Nazism Knights Bachelor Lords Justices of Appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom German people of Jewish descent English people of German-Jewish descent German emigrants to England Royal Air Force officers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People from Charlottenburg

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...