Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens

Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens

Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens KBE, PC, KC (9 August 1885 – 15 November 1973), was a British lawyer, judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Justice of India from 1943 to 1947.

Spens was the eldest of the six children of Nathaniel Spens, of Surrey, and Emily Jessie Connal. Both his parents were of Scottish descent. Spens was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1910. He served in the First World War as an adjutant in the 5th battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment. After the war Spens started practising as a lawyer, and became a King's Counsel in 1925. He unsuccessfully contested St Pancras South West in a 1929 by-election, but was elected for Ashford in 1933. In 1943 Spens was unexpectedly appointed Chief Justice of India. He retained this post until 1947, and then served from 1947 to 1948 as chairman of the tribunal set up to arbitrate between India and Pakistan over the partition of British India. Spens returned to Britain in 1949, and the following year he was elected to Parliament for Kensington South. He stood down from Parliament before the 1959 general election.

Spens was knighted in 1943, made a KBE in 1948 and admitted to the Privy Council in 1953. After his retirement from the House of Commons in 1959 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Spens, of Blairsanquhar in the County of Fife.

Lord Spens married firstly Hilda Mary, daughter of Wentworth Grenville Bowyer, in 1913. They had two sons. After his first wife’s death in 1962 he married secondly Kathleen Annie Fedden, daughter of Roger Dodds. Lord Spens died in November 1973, aged 88. He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest and only surviving son, William George Michael Spens.

References

*Blake, Lord, Nicholls, C. S (editors). "The Dictionary of National Biography, 1971-1980". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). "Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage" (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Patrick Spens — may refer to: *Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens 1885 1973 *Sir Patrick Spens, an old ballad …   Wikipedia

  • Baron Spens — Baron Spens, of Blairsanquhar in the County of Fife, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1959 for the lawyer and Conservative politician Sir Patrick Spens. As of 2007 the title is held by his great grandson, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Clan Spens — or Spence is a Lowland Scottish clan. Contents 1 History 1.1 Origins of the Clan 1.2 15th century 1.3 16th century Mary, Queen of Scots …   Wikipedia

  • William Spens, 2nd Baron Spens — William George Michael Spens, 2nd Baron Spens, QC (18 September 1914 ndash; 23 November 1984) was a British peer.Spens was the eldest son of Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens and his first wife, Hilda. He served with the 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field… …   Wikipedia

  • David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir — The Right Honourable The Earl of Kilmuir GCVO PC KC The Earl of Kilmuir in the Lord Chancellor s robes …   Wikipedia

  • Michael Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne — Michael Herbert Rudolf Knatchbull, 5th Baron Brabourne, GCSI, GCIE, MC (8 May 1895 – 23 February 1939) was a British peer and soldier, the son of the 4th Baron Brabourne. Baptised Michael Herbert Rudolf Knatchbull Hugessen, he dropped the… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Conservative Party (UK) MPs — This is a list of Conservative Party MPs. It includes all Members of Parliament elected to the British House of Commons representing the Conservative Party from 1834 onwards. Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly or the European… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Privy Counsellors (1952–present) — This is a List of Privy Counsellors of the United Kingdom appointed since the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. Due to political ties, some Prime Ministers from Commonwealth realms also are ascended to the British Privy Council as… …   Wikipedia

  • 1922 Committee — In British politics, the 1922 Committee is a committee of Conservative Members of Parliament. Voting membership is limited to backbench MPs although frontbench Conservative MPs have an open invitation to attend meetings. While the party was in… …   Wikipedia

  • Clan Ruthven — Crest badge …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”