Sir George Gillespie Baker,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, 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 The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

from 1971 to 1979 and a Judge in the Division from 1961 to 1979. He also served as Assistant

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

on the British War Crimes Executive at the Nuremberg Trials from 1945 to 1946.

Biography

George Gillespie Baker was educated at Glasgow Academy; Strathallan School,

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

and Brasenose College, Oxford (Hon. Scholarship; Senator Hulme Scholar), where he later became an Honorary Fellow. He received a

Call to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call ...

by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply 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 ...

in 1932 and would in later life become Treasurer of the Inn in 1976. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Baker joined the army and after a brief spell in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment he was commissioned in the

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Regi ...

in 1940. Baker served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

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. In 1945 he unsuccessfully contested the Southall (UK Parliament constituency) in the

1945 United Kingdom general election The 1945 United Kingdom general election was a national election held on 5 July 1945, but polling in some constituencies was delayed by some days, and the counting of votes was delayed until 26 July to provide time for overseas votes to be bro ...

as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate. After the war Baker resumed his career at the Bar, mostly on the then Oxford Circuit. He was Recorder in turn of

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

(1946-1951), Smethwick (1951-1952) and

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

(1952-1961). Appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1952, Deputy Chairman of the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

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. 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, 1945. * Appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are t ...

in 1961. * Appointed a Privy Counsellor of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1971. * Honorary Member Canadian Bar Association. * Freedom of the City of London, 1981.

References

* Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', 14 June 1984. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, George 1910 births 1984 deaths People educated at the Glasgow Academy People educated at Strathallan School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Cameronians officers British Army personnel of World War II British King's Counsel Family Division judges Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Scottish knights Scottish Presbyterians 20th-century British lawyers Presidents of the Family Division Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment soldiers War Office personnel in World War II