Jocelyn Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale
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Jocelyn Edward Salis Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale, (15 January 19117 May 2006) was a Law Lord in the United Kingdom, having been, by turns, a barrister, a commissioned officer in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
, a barrister again, a Conservative Party politician, a government minister, and a judge. He held three ministerial positions in the government of Harold Macmillan, during his 11-year tenure as a member of the House of Commons. He also served as
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...
(now the
Family Division 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...
) of High Court for nine years, and was a Law Lord for 6 years before his retirement in 1977. Simon's appointment, as of 2015, marks the last appointment of a former member of the House of Commons as a
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...
(although Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, appointed before Simon but retiring after Simon, was the last serving law lord to have previously served in the Commons.) As noted by '' The Independent'' in his obituary, "Jack Simon was the last of a breed of judges who first pursued a successful career in politics before promotion to the Bench."


Early life

Simon was born in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough of ...
in London, the son of Claire and Frank Cecil Simon. His father was a stockbroker. He was educated at
Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...
, in Holt, Norfolk and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was elected an
Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in ...
of Trinity Hall in 1963. He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1934, and joined the chambers of Tom Denning (later Lord Denning MR), practising mainly in family law and trust law. In the Second World War, he joined the
Inns of Court Regiment The Inns of Court Regiment (ICR) was a British Army regiment that existed under that name between May 1932 and May 1961. However, the unit traces its lineage back much further, to at least 1584, and its name lives on today within 68 (Inns of Cour ...
and was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment. He commanded a special service squadron of three Valentine tanks of the Royal Armoured Corps in the invasion of Madagascar in 1942 and the subsequent six-month campaign to liberate it from
Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
control. He later fought with the 36th Division in
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. He was mentioned in dispatches, and ended the war as a lieutenant colonel. He returned to legal practice in 1946, and was appointed King's Counsel in 1951. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving person to have been originally appointed as King's Counsel.


Political career

Simon's career then took a political turn: at the 1951 general election which returned Winston Churchill to office, he was elected as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough West, winning the seat from Labour. He held the seat for 11 years. Despite continuing his legal practice, he was attentive to constituency matters, and increased his majority in the 1955 general election. Politically, he was a founder of the One Nation Group. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, Sir Lionel Heald, for three years, and then held three ministerial positions. He was appointed as a
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...
at the Home Office in 1957. He took charge of the bill that became the Homicide Act 1957, earning the respect of
Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary ...
, then
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
. A year later, the ministerial team at the Treasury resigned en masse;
Derick Heathcoat-Amory Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory, , ( ; 26 December 1899 – 20 January 1981) was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1958 and 1960, and later as Chanc ...
became the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing Peter Thorneycroft and Simon was promoted to become
Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the First Lord of the Treasury, first lord of th ...
, replacing Enoch Powell. Simon held this second office for only one year, being appointed Solicitor-General in 1959 to replace Sir
Harry Hylton-Foster Sir Harry Braustyn Hylton Hylton-Foster (10 April 1905 – 2 September 1965), was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1950 until his death in 1965. He was also the Speaker of the House of Comm ...
on his election as
Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: *Speaker of ...
; meanwhile, Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller was
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. Simon was rewarded on taking this third office with a
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 ...
, and became a Privy Councillor in 1961.


Judicial career

Simon seemed destined for a seat in the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
. However, after three years as Solicitor-General, he resigned from his office and his seat in Parliament in 1962, to widespread surprise, to become a High Court judge, and President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, replacing Lord Merriman. His legal practice at the family bar had prepared him for this position perfectly. The year after taking office, he had an operation to remove a benign tumour. The operation left him paralysed on one side of his face: he had a
speech impediment Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills ar ...
and also lost the use of his right eye; he habitually wore a black eye-patch thereafter, which gave him somewhat of a piratical air. He remained President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division for nine years, until he was created a Life peer as Baron Simon of Glaisdale, of
Glaisdale Glaisdale is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England, within the North York Moors National Park. It lies at on the River Esk, between the villages of Lealholm and Egton Bridge, west of Whitby, an ...
in the North Riding of the County of York on 5 February 1971 and appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He retired from judicial office in 1977, but continued to attend the House of Lords and took a close interest in legislation. He sat as a
crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
in the House of Lords, despite earlier sitting in the House of Commons and holding ministerial office as a Conservative. He was strongly opposed to Henry VIII clauses. He proposed a
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...
in 1981 to reform the spelling of
British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly ...
by adopting certain practices from
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...
, such as replacing "-ours" endings with "-ors".


Lord-Lieutenancy

He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant for North Yorkshire in 1973.


Family

He married his first wife, Gwendolen Evans, in 1934. She died in 1937. He married his second wife, Fay, in 1948; they had three sons. One, Sir
Peregrine Simon Sir Peregrine Charles Hugo Simon (born 20 June 1950), is a retired Lord Justice of Appeal. Education and career He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar, Middle Temple in 1973. He was appointed ...
, also became a barrister and High Court judge.


Arms


References


Sources


Obituary
('' The Guardian'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
(''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
(''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', 8 May 2006)
Obituary
('' The Independent'', 9 May 2006)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Jocelyn 1911 births 2006 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Royal Tank Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War II Deputy Lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire English barristers 20th-century King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Members of the Middle Temple Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Simon of Glaisdale Simon of Glaisdale People educated at Gresham's School UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs who were granted peerages Solicitors General for England and Wales Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Jewish British politicians Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 20th-century English lawyers Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division Life peers created by Elizabeth II