Sir Samuel Burgess Ridgway Cooke (16 March 1912 – 12 April 1978) was a British barrister and High Court judge. He served as the second chairman of 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 ...

between 1973 and his death in 1978.

Life and career

Cooke was born in Lancaster, the son of a railway clerk. He was educated at the

Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is a selective grammar school (day and boarding) for boys aged 11–18 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS i ...

and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, where he took Firsts in both the Classics and Law tripos. He was

President of the Cambridge Union This is a list of presidents of Cambridge Union since its foundation in 1815. 1815–1916 It was resolved at a Private Business Meeting held on Monday, May 8, 1916, to hold no elections for terminal officers in the Easter Term, nor subsequentl ...

in Lent 1934. Cooke 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 ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in November 1936, having placed first in the bar final examination and receiving the Certificate of Honour. In 1938 he joined the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, where he contributed to the drafting of the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

and of the

Crown Proceedings Act 1947 The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed, for the first time, civil actions against the Crown to be brought in the same way as against any other party. The Act also reasserted the comm ...

. In 1946, he returned to private practice, joining the chambers of Patrick Devlin KC (later Lord Devlin). In 1947 he served as constitutional adviser to

Lord Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

, the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

, at the time of Indian independence. He was Junior Counsel to

Ministry of Labour and National Service Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

between 1950 and 1960, although most of his practice at the bar consisted of commercial advisory work. He was appointed

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 1960 and 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 Lincoln's Inn in 1966. In 1967, Cooke was appointed a Justice of the

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 ...

(assigned to the

Queen'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 ...

. In 1973, he was appointed as the second chairman of the

. Afflicted by a nervous system disease, Cooke died in office on 12 April 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Samuel 1912 births 1978 deaths People from Lancaster, Lancashire People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union Members of Lincoln's Inn English King's Counsel Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor 20th-century English lawyers