Alfred Tristram Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin
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Alfred Tristram Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin, PC (24 November 1843 – 3 August 1936) was a British lawyer and judge. He served as
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and ...
from 1921 to 1922. He is best remembered for the questionable manner in which he became Lord Chief Justice, under a plan devised by
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
.


Biography

Lawrence was the eldest son of David Lawrence, a surgeon, of
Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
, and Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Morgan Williams. He had originally intended to follow his father into medicine, but became interested in law after witnessing a property case in which his family had an interest. He was educated at
Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...
, where he took a First in Law, and was called to the Bar,
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
, in 1869. He established a successful legal practice although he did not become a
Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
until 1897, when he was 54. Lawrence was
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for the Royal Borough of Windsor from 1885 to 1904, when he was appointed 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 (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
(
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
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...
. He was styled Mr Justice A.T. Lawrence. In
1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...
, he established the legality of
the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
's retain-and-transfer system with his judgement in the Kingaby case.Matthew Taylor, 'Sutcliffe, Charles Edward (1864–1939)',
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
, Oxford University Press, 2004
Former
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player
Herbert Kingaby Herbert Charles Lawrence Kingaby (1880-1934) was an English footballer, an outside rightThe Manchester Guardian, ''FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL'S LAWSUIT''; 27 March 1912 for Clapton Orient, Aston Villa, Fulham and Peterborough City. He played part- ...
had brought legal proceedings against his old club for preventing him from playing. Erroneous strategy by Kingaby's counsel resulted in the suit being dismissed.David McArdle,
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,
The Football League's player registration scheme and the Kingaby case
'', accessed 16 December 2012


Lord Chief Justice

In 1921, the Earl of Reading, the Lord Chief Justice, was appointed
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. There existed a convention that the
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had the right of reverter to the post if a vacancy arose but
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
was unwilling to part with the services of Sir Gordon Hewart. Hewart, on the other hand, had long desired the post, and had turned down offers to become
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and
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
to preserve his rights. A compromise was struck that a stop-gap Lord Chief Justice would be appointed until Lloyd George could dispense with his services. Both Lawrence and Mr Justice Darling competed for the post; Darling went so far as to write to Lloyd George to ask for the post. In the end, Lawrence was chosen, and in April 1921, aged 77, he was made
Lord Chief Justice of England The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English an ...
. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time and in August of the same year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Trevethin, of Blaengawney in the County of Monmouth. On his appointment, Lawrence gave Lloyd George a signed but undated letter of resignation. The arrangement caused much controversy. The judges were so incensed that they refused to attend Lord Reading's farewell ceremony. Lord Birkenhead, the
Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
, complained that the plan was illegal and "would make the Lord Chief Justice a transient figure subject to removal at the will of the government of the day and the creature of political exigency". Darling, who had written to Lloyd George to ask for the appointment "even for ten minutes", was said to have remarked that he supposed he was not old enough (Darling was then aged 71). Lawrence remained Lord Chief Justice until March 1922, when he resigned, to be succeeded by Hewart. He reputedly learned of his "resignation" when reading a newspaper on a train to London on his way to court. By the time he resigned, it was said that he was so deaf that he could no longer follow cases properly.


Later years and family

Lord Trevethin died in August 1936, aged 92. A keen angler in later life, he suffered a seizure while fishing in the
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above
Builth Wells Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...
, fell in and drowned before he was taken out of the water. He was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...
. Lord Trevethin married his cousin Jessie Elizabeth, daughter of George Lawrence, in 1875. They had a daughter and four sons, of whom the eldest, Hon. Alfred Clive Lawrence, predeceased his father. He was succeeded in the barony by his second son Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Trevor Lawrence. His third son Hon. Geoffrey Lawrence also became a noted lawyer and was himself raised to the peerage as Baron Oaksey, before succeeding his elder brother in the barony of Trevethin in 1959.


Arms


References


Bibliography

*Wickham Legg, L. G. ''The Dictionary of National Biography, 1931–1940''. Oxford University Press, 1949. *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{DEFAULTSORT:Trevethin, Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron 1 1843 births 1936 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Deputy lieutenants of Monmouthshire Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Lord chief justices of England and Wales Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Queen's Bench Division judges 19th-century King's Counsel Golders Green Crematorium Knights Bachelor Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Barons created by George V