Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds: Difference between revisions

| caption = 1953 photograph of Lord Simonds by Sir [[Cecil Beaton]].

| order1 = [[Lord Chancellor|Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]]

| predecessor1 = [[William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt|The Viscount Jowitt]]

| birth_date = {{Birthbirth-date|28 November 1881|}}

'''Gavin Turnbull Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|size=100%|PC}} (28 November 1881 – 28 June 1971) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] judge, politician and [[Lord Chancellor|Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]].

Simonds was born in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], [[Berkshire]], the son of Louis DeLuze Simonds and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Turnbull. They were members of thea well-known [[Simonds' Brewery|Berkshire family]] of [[brewing]] magnates (see [[H & G Simonds Ltd]]). He was educated at [[Winchester College]] (where he was later a Fellow, and Warden from 1946–19511946 to 1951) and at [[New College, Oxford]].{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Simonds was [[called to [[Bar association|the Barbar]] in 1906, and appointed a [[King's Counsel]] in 1924.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32928 |date=18 April 1924 |page=3205 }}</ref> He was elected a Bencher of [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1929 and was Treasurer from 1951. He served as a Judge of the Chancery Division of the [[High Court of Justice]] between 1937,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34377 |date=5 March 1937 |page=1486 }}</ref> when he was knighted,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34379 |date=12 March 1937 |page=1640 }}</ref> and 1944. TheIn the latter year he was appointed a [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]],<ref name="gazette">{{London Gazette |issue=36481 |date=21 April 1944 |page=1841 }}</ref> sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] and created a life peer as '''Baron Simonds''', of Sparsholt in the County of Southampton.<ref name="gazette"/>

Simonds remained a Law Lord until 1951, when [[Winston Churchill]] appointed him [[Lord Chancellor]]. He was holder of the office at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, adding a major ceremonial role to his judicial one.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROYALTY - CORONATION OF ELIZABETH II |url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22132/lot/275/|publisher=Bonhams}}</ref>

In June 1952 he was made a hereditary peer as '''Baron Simonds''', of Sparsholt in the County of Southampton.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39584 |date=27 June 1952 |page=3520 }}</ref> HeThis heldwas thishis posttitle until 1954, when he was created '''Viscount Simonds''', of Sparsholt in the County of Southampton.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40313 |date=29 October 1954 |page=6124 }}</ref> He again served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1954 to 1962. He was also High Steward of [[Oxford University]] from 1954 to 1967, and High Steward of the City of [[Winchester, Hampshire|Winchester]] from 1951.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

In 1962 Simonds achieved some notoriety in the case of ''Shaw v DPP'',<ref>''Shaw v DPP'' [1962] AC 220 House of Lords</ref><ref>[{{Cite web|title=Shaw v DPP|url=http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Shaw-v-DPP.php Case summary]|access-date=2022-02-06|website=e-lawresources.co.uk}}</ref> where the House of Lords created thewhat was, in effect, a new criminal offence of "[[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] to corrupt public morals". He declared:<blockquote>"In the sphere of criminal law I entertain no doubt that there remains in the Courts of Law a residual power to enforce the supreme and fundamental purpose of the law, to conserve not only the safety and order but also the moral welfare of the State, and that it is their duty to guard it against attacks which may be the more insidious because they are novel and unprepared for".</blockquote>

The phrase ''"which may be the more insidious because they are novel and unprepared for"'' clearly acknowledges that the common law had not anticipated such an "attack", so that the court could not have been "declaring the common law", and was instead usurping the legislative function. [[James Reid, Baron Reid|Lord Reid]] was the only dissenting judge, saying: <blockquote>"Parliament is the proper place, and I am firmly of opinion the only proper place, ''(to pass new laws)''. Where Parliament [[Fools rush in where angels fear to tread|fears to tread]] it is not for the courts to rush in".</blockquote>

Lord Simonds had three sons who all predeceased him. Robert Francis Simonds died in infancy; John Mellor Simonds (1915–1944) was killed in action at Arnhem in 1944, and Gavin Alexander Simonds (1915–1951) died as a result of illness contracted on active service in East Africa in 1951. Consequently, the hereditary barony and viscountcy became extinct on his death in June 1971, aged 89.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Arms of Gavin Simonds, Escutcheon1st Viscount Simonds.pngsvg|centre|200px]]

|escutcheon = Tierced in palepall Azure, Gules and Vert three Trefoils slipped Or

|crest = An Ermineermine properProper resting the sinister paw upon the Astronomicalastronomical Signsign of Taurus Sable and holding in the mouth a Trefoiltrefoil slipped Or.

|supporters = On either side an Ermineermine properProper each charged on the shoulder the dexter with an Hophop Leafleaf and the sinister with a Bezantbezant.

|motto = Simplex munditiisMunditiis <ref>{{Cite web|title=Simonds, Viscount (UK, 1954 - 1971)|url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/simonds1954.htm|access-date=2022-02-06|website=www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk}}</ref>}}

{{Succession box|title=[[Lord Chancellor|Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]]|before=[[William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt|The Viscount Jowitt]] |after=[[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|The Viscount Kilmuir]]|years=1951–1954}}

[[Category:LordKnights Chancellors of Great BritainBachelor]]

[[Category:Queen20th-century King's Counsel 1901–2000]]

[[Category:Viscounts20th-century inEnglish the Peerage of the United Kingdomlawyers]]

[[Category:1881Life birthspeers created by George VI]]

[[Category:1971Hereditary deathsbarons created by Elizabeth II]]

[[Category:MembersViscounts ofcreated theby JudicialElizabeth Committee of the Privy CouncilII]]