The Earl of Halsbury | |
|---|---|
 The 1st Earl of Halsbury (1883) | |
| Lord Chancellor Lord High Steward for the trial of: List | |
| In office 24 June 1885 – 28 January 1886 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Selborne |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Herschell |
| In office 3 August 1886 – 11 August 1892 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Marquess of Salisbury |
| Preceded by | The Lord Herschell |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Herschell |
| In office 29 June 1895 – 4 December 1905 | |
| Monarchs |
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| Prime Minister |
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| Preceded by | The Lord Herschell |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Loreburn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 September 1823 (1823-09-03) Pentonville, London |
| Died | 11 December 1921 (1921-12-12) (aged 98) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Hardinge Goulburn Giffard, 2nd Earl of Halsbury |
| Parent |
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| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (3 September 1823 – 11 December 1921) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He served three times asLord High Chancellor of Great Britain, for a total of seventeen years, a record not equalled by anyone except LordsHardwicke andEldon.[1]
The son of a newspaper editor, Giffard was called to the English bar in 1850 and acquired a large criminal practice, defending the likes ofGovernor Eyre andArthur Orton, the Tichborne claimant. He was chosen assolicitor-general byDisraeli in 1874, despite not securing a seat in theHouse of Commons until three years later. In 1885, he was appointed to the lord chancellorship byLord Salisbury, and was createdBaron Halsbury, serving until the following year. He then held the lord chancellorship again from 1886 until 1892, and from 1895 until 1905, when he resigned, aged 86. In 1898, he was further honoured with an earldom and a viscounty, becoming theEarl of Halsbury.[1]
After relinquishing the lord chancellorship, Halsbury continued to sit as a law lord, delivering a judgement aged 93 in 1916.[1] During the constitutional crisis over theParliament Act 1911, Halsbury was one of the principal leaders of the rebel faction of Tory peers—labelled the "Ditchers"—that resolved on all out opposition to the government's bill limiting theHouse of Lords' veto whatever happened.[1] He was also the first editor of the legal encyclopaedia which today bears his name,Halsbury's Laws of England.[1]
During his tenure on thewoolsack, Halsbury was accused of favouring conservative lawyers for judicial appointments, although the consideration of political allegiances for judicial appointments was a common practice at the time, and later commentators have blamed bad luck for the failure of several of the judges he appointed.[1] He was also accused of allowing political considerations affect his decisions as a judge, in particularly as they related to trade unions.[1] He was, however, sympathetic to working men seekingworkmen's compensation. In the realm of legal reform, he was responsible for enacting theLand Transfer Act 1897 (60 & 61 Vict. c. 65) and theCriminal Evidence Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 36).[1]
Born inPentonville,London, Giffard was the third son ofStanley Lees Giffard, editor of theLondon Evening Standard, by his wife Susanna, daughter of Francis Moran, Downhill,Ballina,County Mayo. Hardinge attendedMerton College, Oxford.[2] During his time at Merton, he rowed in four seat of theMerton College Boat Club in 1844. His mother died when he was five, and his father married his cousin, Mary Anne Giffard. He was educated by his father at home, before enteringMerton College, Oxford, where he obtained afourth-class degree inliterae humanioresin 1845. Between 1845 and 1848, he helped his father edit theStandard.[1]
Having entered theInner Temple as a student in 1848, he wascalled to the bar there in 1850.[2] Giffard joined the Westen, then the South Wales circuits. Afterwards he had a large practice at theCentral Criminal Court and theMiddlesex sessions, and he was for several years junior prosecuting counsel to theTreasury, and working treasurer in 1881.[2] He was engaged in most of the celebrated trials of his time, including theOverend and Gurney and theTichborne cases. He becameQueen's Counsel in 1865, and abencher of the Inner Temple.[2]
Giffard twice contestedCardiff for theConservatives in1868 and1874,[2] but he was still without a seat in theHouse of Commons when he was appointedSolicitor-General[2] byDisraeli in 1875 and received the customaryknighthood.[3] He also failed to gain a seat in aby-election in Horsham in 1876.
In 1877 he succeeded in obtaining a seat, when he was returned forLaunceston, which he continued to represent until his elevation to the peerage.[2]
Between 1883 and 1919, he had been the constable ofLaunceston Castle, he was appointed byEdward VII, Duke of Cornwall.[2][4]
In 1885, Giffard was appointedLord High Chancellor of Great Britain[2] inLord Salisbury's first administration, and was createdBaron Halsbury, ofHalsbury in the County of Devon, thus forming a remarkable exception to the rule that no criminal lawyer could ever reach thewoolsack. He resumed the position in 1886 and held it until 1892 and again from 1895 to 1905, his tenure of the office, broken only by the brief Liberal ministries of 1886 and 1892–1895, being longer than that of any Lord Chancellor sinceLord Eldon.[3] In 1898 he was createdEarl of Halsbury andViscount Tiverton, ofTiverton, Devon.
Halsbury was an opponent of theBritish trade union movement and used his position to appoint anti-union justices in thejudicial system, leading to decisions such asTaff Vale Rly Co v Amalgamated Society of Rly Servants andQuinn v Leathem which restricted the unions' right tostrike. The legal threats to trade unions at this time drove them to form the Labour Party to seek parliamentary representation.[5]
During the crisis over theParliament Act 1911, Halsbury was one of the principal leaders of the rebel faction of Tory peers—labelled the "Ditchers"—that resolved on all out opposition to the government's bill limiting theHouse of Lords' veto whatever happened. At a meeting of Conservative peers on 21 July of that year, Halsbury shouted out "I willdivide even if I am alone". As Halsbury left the meeting a reporter asked him what was going to happen. Halsbury immediately replied: "Government by a Cabinet controlled by rank socialists".[6]
Halsbury was also President of theRoyal Society of Literature, Grand Warden of EnglishFreemasons, andHigh Steward of theUniversity of Oxford, and warden of guild of undergraduates inUniversity of Birmingham.[2] He also became the chairman of guilds in the London institute, president of royal society of literature in 1911–12.[2]
Halsbury's lasting legacy was the compilation of a complete digest of "Halsbury's Laws of England" (1907–1917), a major reference work published in many volumes and often called simply "Halsbury's". "Halsbury's Laws" was followed by a second multiple-volume reference work in 1929, "Halsbury's Statutes", and later by "Halsbury's Statutory Instruments".[citation needed]
Lord Halsbury died on 11 December 1921, aged 98.
Halsbury married firstly Caroline, daughter of William Corne Humphreys, in 1852. There were no children from this marriage. Caroline died in September 1873. Halsbury married secondly Wilhelmina, daughter of Henry Woodfall, in 1874.[2] He died in December 1921, aged 98, and was succeeded by his only son from his second marriage, Hardinge. The Countess of Halsbury died in December 1927.[citation needed]
According to Herbert Stephen, "Halsbury's features were good, and expressive of power and resolution; his short and stoutly built figure lent itself to caricature." To G. R. Rubin, writing later, "In physical appearance he was somewhat plain and unprepossessing. He had a broad body, and a large head without eyelashes and with an upraised nose. His short legs accentuated his dumpy and pugnacious appearance. But he exuded an expression of power and resolution."[1]
Assessments of Halsbury have varied over the decades. Halsbury's death was not acknowledged in the pages of theLaw Quarterly Review, whereasLord Lindley, who had died two days before Halsbury, was the subject of a tribute.[1]
Among cases in which Halsbury delivered judgment are:[citation needed]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Halsbury, Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 867.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLaunceston 1877–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Solicitor-General for England 1875–1880 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1885–1886 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1886–1892 | |
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1895–1905 | Succeeded by | |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Earl of Halsbury 1898–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Baron Halsbury 1885–1921 | ||
Cabinet of Prime MinisterThe Marquess of Salisbury (July 1885 – February 1886) | ||
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| Home Secretary |
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| Secretary of State for India |
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| First Lord of the Admiralty |
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| Chancellor of the Exchequer Leader of the House of Commons |
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