Sir Anthony Hilgrove Hammond, KCB (27 July 1940 – 24 June 2020) was a British lawyer and public servant."Hammond, Sir Anthony (Hilgrove)"
''Who's Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2018). Retrieved 6 January 2019.

Early life and education

Hammond was born in India, the son of Col. Charles William Hilgrove Hammond and Jessie Eugenia Francis. He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...

and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1962 and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree the following year.

Career

Hammond was

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1962 and worked as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

with

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

on admission in 1965. He joined the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

as a legal assistant in 1968 and, after several promotions, served as its Legal Adviser between 1988 and 1992. He then worked in the

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

, eventually as Director-General of Legal Services, before he was appointed

HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Profession. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor (formal ...

in 1997. He left the office in 2000, and then worked as a legal counsel to

Hakluyt & Company Hakluyt & Company is a British strategic advisory firm. The company is headquartered in London. Hakluyt was founded by former officials of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The company has recruited several former British spies and ...

until 2005. He was also Standing Counsel to the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

between 2000 and 2013. In January 2001, Hammond was appointed by the Prime Minister,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, to lead an inquiry into the Hinduja passport scandal. It had emerged that two Indian brothers, denied UK passports in 1990, had their reapplication for UK passports approved in 1998 and 1999; this followed their commitment to donate to the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millen ...

which the cabinet minister

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

was responsible for; the scandal revolved around Mandelson's involvement in their application process. Mandelson consistently denied wrong-doing."Timeline: Passport row"
''BBC News'', 8 March 2001. Retrieved 6 January 2019. Hammond's appointment was criticised by Kevin Maguire in ''

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 ...

''; he reported that Hammond was "an old Home Office hand" who had previously issued public interest immunity certificates to "suppress evidence of government collusion in the sale of weapons-making machinery to Baghdad in breach of a UN embargo" (the arms-to-Iraq scandal). Hammond had justified the certificates by saying that "the very nature of the work of the security and intelligence services of the crown requires secrecy if it is to be effective". Hammond's report into the Hinduja scandal cleared all parties of wrong-doing, although Mandelson had already resigned from the cabinet. He died on 24 June 2020 at the age of 79.Hammond
/ref>

Honours and awards

Hammond was made a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 1991, an honorary

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1997 and Master of the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers for the year 2007. Appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1991, he was promoted to Knight Commander in 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Anthony 1940 births 2020 deaths People from Norwich People educated at Malvern College Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge English solicitors Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath