Law Lord in the United Kingdom, politician and judge
Jocelyn Edward Salis Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale, PC,DL (15 January 1911–7 May 2006) was a Law Lord in the United Kingdom, having been, by turns, a barrister, a commissioned officer in the British Army, a barrister again, a Conservative Party politician, a government minister, and a judge.
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Quick Facts Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division ...
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 (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."[1]
Early life
Simon was born in Hampstead in London, the son of Claire and Frank Cecil Simon. His father was a stockbroker. He was educated at Gresham's School, in Holt, Norfolk and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was elected an Honorary Fellow 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.
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.
Simon seemed destined for a seat in the Cabinet. 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 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 in the North Riding of the County of York on 5 February 1971 and appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.[4] 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 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 in 1981 to reform the spelling of British English by adopting certain practices from American English, such as replacing "-ours" endings with "-ors".
At the time of his death in 2006 he was the last living person to have held the title of a KC having been appointed in 1951 under the reign of George VI, although he used the suffix QC between 1952 and 2006.[5]
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, also became a barrister and High Court judge.
Arms
Coat of arms of Jack Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale
Crest
A cock's head erased Azure combed and wattled Gules between two palm branches Vert holding in the beak two roses Argent clipped leaved barbed and seeded Proper.
Escutcheon
Per saltire Sable and Ermine a pair of scales Or between in fess two roses Argent barbed and seeded Proper and in pale two crescents Ermine.
Supporters
Dexter a man habited in the robes of a Doctor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge Proper and holding in his dexter hand a book Or sinister a man habited in the robes of the President of the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court Proper.
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