Walter George Frank Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore, (21 November 1845 – 13 March 1929), known as Sir Walter Phillimore, 2nd Baronet, from 1885 to 1918, was a British

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Phillimore was the son of

Sir Robert Phillimore, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore, 1st Baronet (5 November 1810 – 4 February 1885), was an English judge and politician. He was the last Judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1867 to 1875 bringing an end to an office that had lasted nearly 400 ...

, and of Charlotte Phillimore (''née'' Denison). His mother was the sister of

Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington, PC (27 January 1800 – 7 March 1873) was a British statesman who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1872. He is the eponym of Speaker Denison's rule. Background and education De ...

and of Edward Denison. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, where he held a studentship. At Oxford he took Firsts in Classics, Law, and Modern History, was Secretary and Treasurer of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

, and was awarded the

Vinerian Scholarship The Vinerian Scholarship is a scholarship given to the University of Oxford student who "gives the best performance in the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law". Currently, £2,500 is given to the winner of the scholarship, with an a ...

. He was also elected a fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

. He 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 the

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 1868, and joined the Western Circuit. Phillimore was an eminent ecclesiastical lawyer, and mostly practiced in front of ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, seldom appearing in front of the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

courts. He was involved in many famous ecclesiastical cases, often related to ritualistic controversies. He also gave the opinion in the 1884 case of the Home Office Baby. In 1872 he was appointed

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leices ...

. In 1883 he was given a

patent of precedence A patent of precedence is a grant to an individual by letters patent of a higher social or professional position than the precedence to which his ordinary rank entitles him. Historical use in the English legal profession The principal instance in r ...

(the last ever granted) giving him the same privileges as 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 ...

, though he was never appointed a QC. In 1885, upon his father's death, he succeeded to the Phillimore baronetcy. He was a Judge 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 ...

from 1897 to 1913 and a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

from 1913 to 1916. In 1902 he represented the United Kingdom at a meeting of an International Maritime Committee in Hamburg, which debated a draft treaty relating to a uniform law concerning collisions and maritime salvage. In 1913, he was admitted to 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 ...

and on 2 July 1918 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Phillimore, of

Shiplake Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a civil parish situated beside the River Thames south of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The river forms the parish bounda ...

in the

County of Oxford Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. In 1918 he chaired the Phillimore Committee, appointed by the British government to report on proposals for a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. The committee was established in January 1918 after being suggested to

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

Lord Robert Cecil Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he ...

.George W. Egerton, ''Great Britain and the Creation of the League of Nations'' (The University of North Carolina Press, 1978), pp. 37-38. Lord Phillimore died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in March 1929, aged 83, and was succeeded in his titles by his son Godfrey. 1stLordPhillimore

Arms

References

Bibliography

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * . * W. A. B. (1928)
The Right Hon. Baron Phillimore of Shiplake, Baronet, PC, DCL, LLD, JP
, ''Transactions of the Grotius Society'', Vol. 14, Problems of Peace and War, Papers Read before the Society in the Year 1928, ''pp''v-ix.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillimore, Walter George Frank 1845 births 1929 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 19th-century English judges 20th-century English judges Law lords Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of Kensington Metropolitan Borough Council Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Lords Justices of Appeal Barons created by George V Honorary Fellows of the British Academy Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom