Nicholas Wilson, Lord Wilson Of Culworth
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Nicholas Allan Roy Wilson, Lord Wilson of Culworth, PC (born 9 May 1945) is a retired British judge. On 26 May 2011, he became a
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the president and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United ...
, having previously served as 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) Just ...
since 2005. Lord Wilson has specialised in family law throughout his career. In December 2016, as one of the 11 Justices of the Supreme Court, Lord Wilson heard the Government's appeal of R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (the Article 50 case) on the use of prerogative powers to start the process of leaving the
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following the
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
on 23 June 2016.


Early life

Lord Wilson's father was Roderick Peter Garrett Wilson (1913–1994), a former naval officer, who taught languages at Dartmouth Naval College after resigning his commission due to ill-health. In 1942 Peter married Anne Dorothy Anne Chenevix Trench (b 30 August 1916 in India), daughter of an officer in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
. As her husband's health continued to decline, Anne studied at
Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
, qualifying to teach the piano, to earn an income. The Wilsons lived in Fittleworth,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
for many years, purchasing Three Chimneys in the village in 1958. His paternal grandfather was Sir Roderick Roy Wilson (10 August 1876 – 27 August 1942), a banker and politician who was
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP for
Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...
(29 October 1924 to May 1929). He was knighted in 1929 and Chairman of the British Guiana Parliamentary Commission, 1926. Lord Wilson was educated at
Bryanston School Bryanston School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the ...
, Dorset and
Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...
.


Career

Lord Wilson was called to the Bar in 1967 (
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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
), and became 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 ...
in 1987. He was appointed a Recorder the same year. In 1993 he became a bencher and was appointed to the High Court, sitting in 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 (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
, and was appointed a
knight bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
. He was appointed to the
Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
in 2005 and was also appointed to the Privy Council. On 26 May 2011 he joined the
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases ...
, succeeding Lord Saville of Newdigate By Royal Warrant all members of the Supreme Court, even if they do not hold a
peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...
, are entitled to the judicial style and title "Lord" for life. Wilson was granted the courtesy style Lord Wilson of Culworth, referencing Culworth, Northamptonshire. Lord Wilson of Culworth was the first person to use a territorial name with his judicial courtesy title.


Personal life

Lord Wilson married Margaret Higgins, daughter of Reginald Francis Higgins, in 1974. After reading law at Oxford (MA 1966), Lady Wilson was called to the Bar in July 1966 by
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 ...
; admitted to Inner Temple in 1968 entitled to practice as a Barrister-at-Law. She worked at 3 Hare Court, London from 1967 to 1986 and ceased practice in 1987. For twenty years she was a chairman of the London leasehold valuation tribunal, and latterly a Judge of the successor
First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is a first-instance general tribunal in the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...
(Property Chamber), until she retired in April 2015 and became a mediator at Tanfield Chambers. Lord and Lady Wilson have two children, Matthew Roderick Benjamin Wilson, born in 1977, and Camilla Jessica Wilson, born in 1981. Matthew attended
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
where he edited the Eton Chronicle. Lord Wilson has told the story of asking his former client
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
Bill Wyman to do him favour and give Matthew an interview. "My son Matthew was once editor of the Eton Chronicle, and I said I have a real favour of you Bill, would you be prepared for my son to interview you on behalf of the Eton Chronicle – he said yes, come down next week. So Matthew went down and came back that evening – I asked him how it went and he said fine – I said 'let's hear it, come on' – and none of it had taken! And so I rang up Bill Wyman who said don't worry, let him come down again tomorrow and we’ll do it all over again – wasn't that wonderful?" He has been a successful owner of hurdlers and steeplechasers, most trained by John Upson at Maidford in Northamptonshire. Winners in Lord Wilson's colours include Nick The Beak, Young Radical and Gritti Palace. One of the best horses trained by Upson was Nick The Brief, winner of 11 races, including the Hennessy Irish Gold Cup at
Leopardstown Leopardstown (), historically called Ballinlore, is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. With institutional lands and a large racecourse, it is divided by the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorw ...
in 1990 and 1991 and Peter Marsh Handicap Chase at Haydock Park in 1990 On 2 February 1991, Nick The Brief was narrowly beaten by the great Desert Orchid in a tremendous duel up the Sandown Park hill in the Agfa Diamond Handicap Chase. In the 2016/17 season, Lord Wilson's colours have been carried by Issac's Warrior, trained at Maidford by Tracey Leeson, and winner of a point to point at Ballybunion in 2012


Views

Wilson maintains cuts to
legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right ...
in the UK endanger access to justice. Wilson said, "In pursuit of its economic policy the UK government has recently felt the need to dismantle much of our precious system of legal aid, introduced in 1949 along with the other two pillars of our welfare state, namely social security and the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
."Access to justice under threat in UK, says supreme court judge
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''


See also

*
List of Lords Justices of Appeal The ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are the Lord Justices of Appeal and Lady Justices of Appeal. These judges serve with the ''ex officio'' members of the court: * Lord Chief Justice * Master of the Rolls * Presi ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson of Culworth, Nicholas Wilson, Lord 1945 births Living people People educated at Bryanston School Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford English King's Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor