William Pickford, 1st Baron Sterndale, (1 October 1848 – 17 August 1923) was a British lawyer and judge. He 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 ...

between 1914 and 1918, as President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division between 1918 and 1919 and as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...

between 1919 and 1923.

Biography

Pickford was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, son of the Manchester merchant Thomas Edward Pickford and his wife, Georgina, daughter of Jeremiah Todd-Naylor, and grandson of Thomas Pickford II of the

Pickfords Pickfords is a moving company based in the United Kingdom, part of Pickfords Move Management Ltd. The business is believed to have been founded in the 17th century, making it one of the UK's oldest functioning companies, although the similar S ...

carriers. He was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

and went to

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

in 1867. He entered 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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1871, reading under Thomas Henry Baylis, and 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 ...

in 1874. Going the Northern Circuit, he had chambers in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. As a junior Pickford appeared in the trial of

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabe ...

. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1893. He was made

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

of Oldham in 1901, and then of Liverpool in 1904. He also represented the British government in 1905, in the inquiry after the

Dogger Bank incident The Dogger Bank incident (also known as the North Sea Incident, the Russian Outrage or the Incident of Hull) occurred on the night of 21/22 October 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, when the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy mistook ...

when Russia sunk some Hull trawlers. Pickford was appointed a judge of the High Court in 1907 and a

and sworn of the Privy Council in 1914. In 1916 he was chairman of the Dardanelles Commission. He was made President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division and raised to the peerage as Baron Sterndale, of King Sterndale in the County of Derby, in 1918. The following year he became

, a post he held until his death.

Family

Lord Sterndale married Alice Mary Brooke, of Sibton Park Suffolk, on 18 August 1880. They had two daughters, Dorothy Frances Pickford (b. 1881) and Mary (Molly) Ada Pickford (b. 1884). His wife Alice died after childbirth on 5 September 1884. Sterndale's daughter the Hon.

Mary Ada Pickford Mary Ada Pickford, (5 July 1884 – 6 March 1934) was an English politician, industrialist and historian. After working to support the Conservative Party over several years, she was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1931, and specialised ...

sat as Conservative Member of Parliament for Hammersmith North from 1931 to 1934. Lord Sterndale died in August 1923, aged 74, when the barony became extinct. He is buried at King Sterndale Church near Buxton,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterndale, William Pickford, 1st Baron 1848 births 1923 deaths 20th-century English judges Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Masters of the Rolls Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English King's Counsel People educated at Liverpool College Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Knights Bachelor Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Barons created by George V Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division