George Baker (judge)
Sir George Gillespie Baker, OBE, QC, PC (25 April 1910 – 13 June 1984) was President of the Family Division (formerly of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division) of the High Court of Justice from 1971-1979 and a Judge in the Division from 1961-1979.[1] He also served as Assistant Adjutant General on the British War Crimes Executive at the Nuremberg Trials from 1945-1946.[1]
Early career
George Gillespie Baker was educated at Glasgow Academy; Strathallan School, Perthshire and Brasenose College, Oxford (Hon. Scholarship; Senator Hulme Scholar), where he later became an Honorary Fellow. He received a Call to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1932 and would in later life become Treasurer of the Inn in 1976.[1] At the beginning of the Second World War Baker joined the army and after a brief spell in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment he was commissioned in the The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 1940.[1]
War service
Baker served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the War Office 1941-1942, Assistant Adjutant General with the Allied Force Headquarters 1942-44, Colonel 'A' 15th Army Group, 1945 and Assistant Adjutant General on the British War Crimes Executive at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946.[1] In 1945 he unsuccessfully contested the Southall (UK Parliament constituency) in the United Kingdom general election, 1945 as a Conservative candidate.[1]
Later career
After the war Baker resumed his career at the Bar, mostly on the then Oxford Circuit.[1] He was Recorder in turn of Bridgnorth (1946-1951), Smethwick (1951-1952) and Wolverhampton (1952-1961).[1] Appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1952, Deputy Chairman of the Shropshire Quarter Sessions from 1954 until 1971 and Leader of the Oxford Circuit for seven years until his promotion to a High Court Judge in 1961.[1] Baker's deep personal integrity was founded on his staunch Presbyterian faith.
Honours/Awards
- Appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 1945.[1]
- Appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1961.[1]
- Appointed a Privy Counsellor of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1971.[1]
- Honorary Member Canadian Bar Association.[1]
- Freedom of the City of London, 1981.[1]
References
- Obituary, The Times, 14 June 1984.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by
Sir Jocelyn Simon
|
President of the Family Division 1971–1979 |
Succeeded by Sir John Arnold |
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- 1910 births
- 1984 deaths
- People educated at Glasgow Academy
- People educated at Strathallan School
- Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
- Cameronians officers
- British Army personnel of World War II
- British Queen's Counsel
- Family Division judges
- Conservative Party (UK) politicians
- Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Freemen of the City of London
- Knights Bachelor
- Scottish knights
- Scottish Presbyterians
- 20th-century British lawyers
