Henry Holman Gregory
Encyclopedia
Sir Holman Gregory (30 June 1864 – 9 May 1947) was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal Party
politician.
where he later became President of the Old Boys’ Society.
He married first, in 1891, Ada Whitwill from Bristol
. She died in 1930 and in 1935 he married Nanette Evelyn O’Leary but neither marriage seems to have produced any children.
and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple
in 1897. He then joined the Western Circuit and became one of its busiest junior counsel. He took silk in 1910. He was made a Bencher
of the Middle Temple in 1920 and was elected Treasurer in 1933.
In 1924, Gregory was elected to the Bar Council
, the body regulating the profession of barristers in the United Kingdom.
of Bath and in 1924 he was made Recorder of Bristol. When Lord Haldane
was Lord Chancellor
during the first Labour Government he intended to nominate Gregory for a High Court
judgeship but the government fell before he could do so. By this time however Gregory was reaching an age considered too advanced for promotion to the High Court bench and on the death of Judge Atherley-Jones in June 1929 he decided to accept the post of Judge of the Mayor's and City of London Court
and Commissioner at the Central Criminal Court
. In 1932, on the retirement of Sir Henry Dickens
, Gregory succeeded him as Common Serjeant of London
and in 1934 took over from Sir Ernest Wild as Recorder of London, serving until 1937 when he resigned at the age of 73.
. Bailey was charged with High Treason
in the company of the Irish nationalist
, Roger Casement
. Bailey had been recruited by Casement while a Prisoner of War
in Germany but claimed he had only joined the Irish Brigade to facilitate his escape from Germany so he could get back to his regiment and continue fighting for King and Country. Bailey was described as being of humble origin and had previously served as a soldier in the British army
for nine years with an exemplary record. In the event the prosecution agreed to offer no evidence and Gregory saw his client acquitted.
, Sir Hnery Herbert Raphael, announced that he would not be standing at the next election through ill-health, although he had also fallen out with the party over the issue of land reform
. South Derbyshire Liberal Association wished at first to select the Hon. A L Stanley, the former MP for Eddisbury
but he was appointed Governor of Victoria in 1914 and was not available. It is not clear how Gregory came to be recommended for the seat but in 1918 he was chosen as the Coalition Liberal
candidate for Derbyshire South at the general election
. He was one of the few Liberals to be awarded the Coalition coupon
in the Midlands
and in a straight fight with Labour
he won 66% of the poll and a majority of 7,581 votes. He decided not to stand for re-election in 1922.
As a well-known lawyer and judge, and with political connections, Gregory was in frequent demand to sit on or to chair official commissions, boards of inquiry and labour arbitration tribunals. The most important of these assignments was to chair the Royal Commission
on Unemployment Insurance in 1930. The work of this Commission was one of the factors which led to the introduction in 1931 of the National Government. The report of the Commission recommended that unemployment benefit be cut by 30%, that certain anomalies should be eliminated, that benefit should only be paid for 26 weeks a year and that some means testing should be introduced. The Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald
did not implement these measures in full and when the all-party committee to look into government finances
, including the crucial issue of unemployment benefits, under the chairmanship of Sir George May
reported in July 1931, the government collapsed as Labour members could not countenance the cutting of benefits.
From 1917–1920, Gregory presided over a departmental committee to enquire into the system of workmen’s compensation
, which formed the basis for policy and legislation in the succeeding years. In February 1924 he was chairman of the Court of Inquiry into the dockers
strike. He fulfilled the same role looking into railways disputes in 1924 and 1925. In 1924 he chaired an inquiry into the withheld retirement pay of naval officers. During the Spanish Civil War
, Gregory was charged with looking into the fate of Basque
children who had arrived in Britain as war refugees.
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician.
Family and education
Holman Gregory was born at Bath in Somerset, the son of H T Gregory a well-known Bath solicitor. He was educated at Bristol Grammar SchoolBristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school was founded in 1532 by two brothers, Robert and Nicholas Thorne....
where he later became President of the Old Boys’ Society.
He married first, in 1891, Ada Whitwill from Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. She died in 1930 and in 1935 he married Nanette Evelyn O’Leary but neither marriage seems to have produced any children.
Solicitor and barrister
Gregory followed his father into the law. He was admitted as a member of his father’s firm in 1886 and then practised as a solicitor at Bristol. He studied to become a barristerBarrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
in 1897. He then joined the Western Circuit and became one of its busiest junior counsel. He took silk in 1910. He was made a Bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
of the Middle Temple in 1920 and was elected Treasurer in 1933.
In 1924, Gregory was elected to the Bar Council
Bar council
A bar council , in a Commonwealth country and in the Republic of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland is a professional body that regulates the profession of barristers together with the King's Inns. Solicitors are generally regulated by the Law society....
, the body regulating the profession of barristers in the United Kingdom.
Judge
Gregory became a judge in 1916 when he was appointed RecorderRecorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of Bath and in 1924 he was made Recorder of Bristol. When Lord Haldane
Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane KT, OM, PC, KC, FRS, FBA, FSA , was an influential British Liberal Imperialist and later Labour politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms" were implemented...
was Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
during the first Labour Government he intended to nominate Gregory for a High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
judgeship but the government fell before he could do so. By this time however Gregory was reaching an age considered too advanced for promotion to the High Court bench and on the death of Judge Atherley-Jones in June 1929 he decided to accept the post of Judge of the Mayor's and City of London Court
Mayor's and City of London Court
The Mayor's and City of London Court is a County Court in the City of London. It is located at Guildhall Buildings, Basinghall Street.The current court is the successor to courts pre-dating the County Courts Act 1846, which introduced the modern system of county courts...
and Commissioner at the Central Criminal Court
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
. In 1932, on the retirement of Sir Henry Dickens
Henry Fielding Dickens
Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, KC was the eighth of ten children born to British author Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. The most successful of all of Dickens's children, he was a barrister, a KC and Common Serjeant of London, a senior legal office which he held for over 15 years.-Early...
, Gregory succeeded him as Common Serjeant of London
Common Serjeant of London
The Common Serjeant of London is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1317, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of London, acting as deputy to that office, and sitting as a judge in the trial of criminal offences.The Common...
and in 1934 took over from Sir Ernest Wild as Recorder of London, serving until 1937 when he resigned at the age of 73.
Defending counsel in a notorious case
In 1916, Gregory appeared for the defence in the case of Daniel Julian Bailey, a Dublin born soldier in the Royal Irish RiflesRoyal Ulster Rifles
The Royal Ulster Rifles was a British Army infantry regiment. It saw service in the Second Boer War, Great War, the Second World War and the Korean War, before being amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968.-History:...
. Bailey was charged with High Treason
High treason in the United Kingdom
Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the...
in the company of the Irish nationalist
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, Roger Casement
Roger Casement
Roger David Casement —Sir Roger Casement CMG between 1911 and shortly before his execution for treason, when he was stripped of his British honours—was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist....
. Bailey had been recruited by Casement while a Prisoner of War
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in Germany but claimed he had only joined the Irish Brigade to facilitate his escape from Germany so he could get back to his regiment and continue fighting for King and Country. Bailey was described as being of humble origin and had previously served as a soldier in the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
for nine years with an exemplary record. In the event the prosecution agreed to offer no evidence and Gregory saw his client acquitted.
Politics
In 1913, the sitting Liberal MP for the Southern Division of DerbyshireSouth Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:"-Elections in the 1980s:-Elections in the 1940s:-References:...
, Sir Hnery Herbert Raphael, announced that he would not be standing at the next election through ill-health, although he had also fallen out with the party over the issue of land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
. South Derbyshire Liberal Association wished at first to select the Hon. A L Stanley, the former MP for Eddisbury
Eddisbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Eddisbury is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.- Boundaries :...
but he was appointed Governor of Victoria in 1914 and was not available. It is not clear how Gregory came to be recommended for the seat but in 1918 he was chosen as the Coalition Liberal
Coalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...
candidate for Derbyshire South at the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
. He was one of the few Liberals to be awarded the Coalition coupon
Coalition Coupon
The ‘Coalition Coupon’, often referred to as ‘the coupon’, refers to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in...
in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and in a straight fight with Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
he won 66% of the poll and a majority of 7,581 votes. He decided not to stand for re-election in 1922.
Honours and appointments
In 1935 Gregory received a knighthood in the New Years Honours list.As a well-known lawyer and judge, and with political connections, Gregory was in frequent demand to sit on or to chair official commissions, boards of inquiry and labour arbitration tribunals. The most important of these assignments was to chair the Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on Unemployment Insurance in 1930. The work of this Commission was one of the factors which led to the introduction in 1931 of the National Government. The report of the Commission recommended that unemployment benefit be cut by 30%, that certain anomalies should be eliminated, that benefit should only be paid for 26 weeks a year and that some means testing should be introduced. The Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
did not implement these measures in full and when the all-party committee to look into government finances
May Report
The May Report was the publication on 31 July 1931 of the views of the Committee on National Expenditure chaired by Sir George May.-Background:...
, including the crucial issue of unemployment benefits, under the chairmanship of Sir George May
George May, 1st Baron May
George Ernest May, 1st Baron May KBE , known as Sir George May, 1st Baronet, from 1931 to 1945, was a British financial expert and public servant....
reported in July 1931, the government collapsed as Labour members could not countenance the cutting of benefits.
From 1917–1920, Gregory presided over a departmental committee to enquire into the system of workmen’s compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
, which formed the basis for policy and legislation in the succeeding years. In February 1924 he was chairman of the Court of Inquiry into the dockers
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
strike. He fulfilled the same role looking into railways disputes in 1924 and 1925. In 1924 he chaired an inquiry into the withheld retirement pay of naval officers. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, Gregory was charged with looking into the fate of Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
children who had arrived in Britain as war refugees.