Sir Courtenay Ilbert | |
|---|---|
 | |
 33rd Clerk of the House of Commons | |
| In office 1902–1921 | |
| Preceded by | Archibald Milman |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Lonsdale Webster |
| First Parliamentary Counsel | |
| In office 1899–1902 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Thring, 1st Baron Thring |
| Succeeded by | Henry Jenkyns |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1841-06-12)12 June 1841 Kingsbridge,England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | 14 May 1924(1924-05-14) (aged 82) Penn, Buckinghamshire,England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Relatives | Lettice Fisher (daughter)Mary Bennett (grand-daughter) |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Lawyer,Civil servant |
| Known for | Ilbert Bill Legislative Methods and Forms |
Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert,GCB, KCSI, CIE, FBA (12 June 1841 – 14 May 1924) was a distinguished British lawyer and civil servant who served as legal adviser to theViceroy of India'sCouncil for many years until his eventual return from India to England. His later career included appointments as theFirst Parliamentary Counsel (1899–1902) and asClerk of the House of Commons from 1902 to 1921.
Ilbert was born atKingsbridge,Devon to the Reverend Peregrine Arthur Ilbert, rector ofThurlestone, and Rose Anne (daughter of George Welsh Owen, of Lowman Green,Tiverton, Devon). He was educated atMarlborough College (1852–60) and atBalliol College, Oxford, where he won the Hertford, Ireland, Craven, and Eldon scholarships. He took first-class honours inclassical moderations andliterae humaniores and was elected a fellow of Balliol in 1864, where he was Bursar from 1871 to 1874.[1] He wasPresident of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas 1865.
Ilbert wascalled to the Bar byLincoln's Inn in 1869, and began to practice in property law, with an emphasis on drafting trusts and other documents. His expertise as a draftsman attracted the attention ofSir Henry Thring who invited him to help prepare bills: among his bills he helped to prepare were theStatute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 59) and theStatute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 49).
TheViceroy of India, theMarquess of Ripon sought an imaginative constitutional lawyer and aLiberal to become the Law Member of the Viceroy's Council, in succession to the likes ofLord Macaulay,Sir Henry Maine, andSir James Fitzjames Stephen. At the invitation ofLord Hartington,Secretary of State for India, Ilbert was offered the position in 1882 and proceeded to India, where he served until 1886.
During his time in India, Ilbert drafted many important pieces of legislation, but by far the most famous was his eponymousIlbert Bill. Introduced by Ilbert in 1883, the Bill proposed to allow non-European Magistrates or Sessions Judges to try "European British subjects", something which existing legislation did not allow. European reactions in India to the proposal were extremely hostile, which in turn stimulated the growth ofIndian nationalism. The response in Britain was more divided: the Bill was criticized by some, notably by Ilbert's predecessorSir James Fitzjames Stephen, but the Bill received substantial support in Britain as well. As a result of the controversy, the bill was significantly amended. The extent of Ilbert's personal support for the Bill are unclear: R. C. J. Cocks speculated that Ilbert approved of the principles the Bill embodied, but was dubious as to its political expediency.[1]
He was appointed assistant parliamentary counsel to Treasury in 1886 andFirst Parliamentary Counsel in 1899. In February 1902, Ilbert was appointedClerk of the House of Commons,[2] and he served as such until 1921.[1]
Ilbert married Jessie, daughter of Reverend Charles Bradley and niece of George Bradley, former headmaster of Marlborough College in 1874. They had five daughters, the oldest,Lettice Fisher became the first to head the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child.[1] His fourth daughter Margaret Peregrina Ilbert (1882–1952) married SirArthur Cochrane of theCollege of Arms.
Ilbert was an outdoorsman in his youth and he climbed in Chamonix (1871 with Leslie Stephen and M. Loppe)[3] the Hekla in Iceland and the Vignemale in the Pyrenees in 1872–73 withJames Bryce.[4] When Ilbert lived in Simla, at Chapslee house, he founded a Simla Natural History Society around 1885 but the organization dissolved when he left Simla in 1886.[5]
Ilbert died a few months after the death of his wife at his home in Troutwells,Buckinghamshire on 14 May 1924.[1]
Ilbert was invested as aKnight Commander of the Order of the Star of India in 1895, as aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1908, and as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1911. He was a foundingFellow of the British Academy (1903).[1]
Ilbert reflected on laws and law-making and wrote several books on parliamentary and legislative procedure and history that were highly regarded. Jurists like Sir Carleton Kemp Allen praised his knowledge of parliamentary procedure but felt he was outdated. He pointed out to how government initiatives were modified into legally actionable forms but many[weasel words]considered Ilbert to be outdated and old-fashioned in putting faith in public opinion to exert corrective action on legislative abuses.[1]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | First Parliamentary Counsel 1899–1901 | Succeeded by |