Anthony Patrick Babington (4 April 1920, in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

– 10 May 2004, in London) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

author, judge and Army officer.

Early life

Babington was born in County Cork in 1920 to Oscar John Gilmore Babington (1879–1930), also an Army officer, and his wife Annie Honor Wrixon (1878–1975). Among his cousins were Sir

Anthony Babington Anthony Babington (24 October 156120 September 1586) was an English gentleman convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots, for which he was hanged, drawn and quartered ...

and Robert Babington, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross.'' Who's Who 1991'', p. 72''An Uncertain Voyage'' by BABINGTON, ANTHONY, published by Barry Rose Law Publishers Limited 15 June 2000, In the early stages of his life, Babington grew up in India and England. However, Babington's father died of alcoholism when he was aged 10, so the family were forced to sell their estate in Cork. Babington, his mother and two siblings were continuing to live at Kenley Court, where they had been living in Surrey, in reduced circumstances, whilst Babington attended

Reading School Reading School is a state grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England, alth ...

, having originally been set to go to

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

.Anthony Patrick Babington

the Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 21 June 2004Anthony Patrick Babington

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

, 25 May 2004 Anthony Patrick Babington
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 19 May 2004

Military service

Babington was commissioned as an officer and served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an light infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal ...

and then the

Dorset Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the List of British Army regiments (1881), county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although ...

. In 1944, Babington was injured in the

Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Netherlands, Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Alli ...

and left for dead until slight movements were detected. It was widely believed that Babington would never be able to walk or talk again, but whilst recuperating at

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

he was able to learn to speak and write, using his left-hand, and eventually to walk. He was later awarded the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

for his war service.

Legal career

He was called to the Bar by

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1948, and was eventually appointed a Bencher in 1977. In 1964 he became a metropolitan stipendary magistrate and from 1972 until 1987 he was a circuit judge. In 1995, he was appointed an Honorary Bencher of

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

in Dublin by then President

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

Personal life

Latterly in his life, Babington was in a relationship with Josephine Pullein-Thompson MBE. Babington, at the request of Pullein-Thompson, was active for many years in the writers' organisation

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, and he often acted unofficially as a legal adviser. He became a campaigner for increased awareness of disabled people, particularly those leaving the military.http://studylib.net/doc/8449781/--disability-world vol 23, pg 3 'Anthony Babington: Disabled Judge, Historian & Campaigner: 1920–2004'

Publications

*''No memorial'', Heinemann 1 January 1954 *''Power to Silence'', , Elsevier 1 September 1968 *''A house in Bow Street: Crime and the magistracy, London, 1740–1881'', , Macdonald & Co 1 January 1969 *''The English Bastille: A History of Newgate Gaol and Prison Conditions in Britain 1188–1902'', , Macdonald & Co 11 November 1971 *''Military Intervention in Britain: From the Gordon Riots to the Gibraltar Incident'', , Routledge 17 May 1990 *''The devil to pay: The Mutiny of the Connaught Rangers, India, July 1920: Connaught Rangers Revolt in the Punjab, 1920'', , Pen & Sword Books Ltd 14 November 1991 *''For the Sake of Example: Capital Courts Martial 1914–18 – The Truth'', , Leo Cooper 13 September 1993 *''The Rule of Law in Britain from the Roman Occupation to the Present Day'', , Barry Rose Law Publishers Ltd 1 August 1995 *''An Uncertain Voyage'', , Barry Rose Law Publishers Limited 15 June 2000 *''Shell Shock'', , Leo Cooper Ltd 21 October 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babington, Anthony

Anthony Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descenda ...

British male writers British legal writers Members of the Middle Temple 20th-century English judges 1920 births 2004 deaths Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) 20th-century Anglo-Irish people