Sir Wilfrid Hubert Poyer Lewis, (9 February 1881 – 15 March 1950) 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 ...

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 ...

, and ecclesiastical lawyer. He served as

Junior Counsel to the Treasury (Common Law) Devilling is the period of training, pupillage or junior work undertaken by a person wishing to become an advocate in one of the English-speaking common law systems of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Australia. Etymology While there ...

(one of the British government's most senior lawyers) from 1930 to 1935. Then, from 1935 until his death, he was a

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 ...

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 ...

. He presided over the trial of the alleged murderer

Timothy Evans Timothy John Evans (20 November 1924 – 9 March 1950) was a Welshman who was wrongly accused of murdering his wife (Beryl) and infant daughter (Geraldine) at their residence in Notting Hill, London. In January 1950, Evans was tried, and was c ...

in January 1950, two months before his death.

Life

Lewis was born on 9 February 1881 in London, England. He was the son of Arthur Griffith Poyer Lewis, a barrister, and Annie Wilhelmine, ''née'' Ellison. His grandfather was

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer * Rich ...

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a ...

. 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

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where he took a

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

in Modern History. After reading in the chambers of John Simon and John Sankey, he was called to the Bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1908, and began practicing at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. During World War I, he was commissioned into the

Glamorgan Yeomanry The Glamorgan Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army originally raised in the late 18th century as a result of concern over the threat of invasion by the French. It was re-raised in the Second Boer War and saw service in both the Fi ...

, and served as aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Fergusson in France. He was twice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and appointed OBE. After the war, he joined the chambers of

Thomas Inskip Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, (5 March 1876 – 11 October 1947) was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940. Despite legal posts dominating his ...

in London, gaining a large practice. In 1930, he was appointed Junior Counsel to the Treasury (Common Law) (commonly known as the '

Treasury Devil Devilling is the period of training, pupillage or junior work undertaken by a person wishing to become an advocate in one of the English-speaking common law systems of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Australia. Etymology While there ...

'). In 1935, in succession to Mr Justice Avory, Lewis was appointed a Justice of the High Court, 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 ...

, and received 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 ...

. At Caernarfon, he heard the case of the burning of the aerodrome at

Penyberth Penyberth was a farmhouse at Penrhos, on the Llŷn Peninsula near Pwllheli, Gwynedd, which had been the home to generations of patrons of poets, and also a way-station for pilgrims to Bardsey Island, but destroyed in 1936 in order to build a ...

in September 1936 by

Saunders Lewis Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis) (15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-found ...

and two other prominent members of

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

, the Fire in Llŷn or ''Tân yn Llŷn''. The jury failed to agree on a verdict.G. M. Griffiths, 'LEWIS, Sir WILFRID HUBERT POYER (1881 - 1950), judge'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Wilfrid 1881 births 1950 deaths British barristers Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Pembrokeshire English justices of the peace People educated at Eton College Alumni of University College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Glamorgan Yeomanry officers