Sir Arthur Theodore Thring, KCB, DL (7 February 1860 – 17 April 1932) was an English lawyer, parliamentary draftsman and parliamentary clerk.

Career

Born on 7 February 1860, Arthur Theodore Thring was the third son of Theodore Thring, a "country gentleman", the deputy chairman of the

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

and a

Commissioner of Bankruptcy A Commissioner of Bankruptcy (England and Wales) was, from 1571 to 1883, an official appointed (initially by commission of the Lord Chancellor) to administer the estate of a bankrupt with full power to dispose of all his lands and tenements.Com ...

, and his wife Julia Jane, ''née'' Mills. His uncles included the First Parliamentary Counsel Lord Thring, the schoolmaster Rev.

Edward Thring Edward Thring (29 November 1821 – 22 October 1887) was a celebrated British educator. He was headmaster of Uppingham School (1853–1887) and founded the Headmasters' Conference in 1869. Life Thring was born at Alford, Somerset, the son of th ...

and the hymn-writer Rev.

Godfrey Thring Godfrey Thring (25 March 1823 – 13 September 1903), was an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer. Life Godfrey Thring was born at Alford, Somerset, the son of the rector, Rev. John Gale Dalton Thring and Sarah née Jenkyns. He was brother of Th ...

. Arthur attended

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

from 1872 and

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (T ...

for the school

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

team when it beat

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

in 1878. The following year, he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, as a

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...

. He secured a second-class degree in classics in 1883."Sir Arthur Turing", ''The Times'' (London), 18 April 1932, p. 17."Thring, Sir Arthur (Theodore)"
''Who Was Who'' (online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2007). Retrieved 5 November 2018. Thring was called to the bar in 1887 and practised at

parliamentary committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

and government inquiries. He was appointed

Second Parliamentary Counsel The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

in 1902 and the following year became First Parliamentary Counsel, in which office he was responsible for drafting legislation relating to the

People's Budget The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes. It passed the House of Commons in 1909 but was blo ...

(1909), the

National Insurance Act 1911 The National Insurance Act 1911 created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foun ...

, the

Parliament Act 1911 The Parliament Act 1911 (1 & 2 Geo. 5 c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two Houses of Parli ...

, the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, als ...

and many wartime bills. According to Sir

Harold Kent Sir Harold Simcox Kent (11 November 1903 – 4 December 1998) was a British lawyer. Early life Kent was born on 11 November 1903 in Tianjin, China, where his father, Percy Horace Braund Kent, OBE, MC, was a barrister in the consular court s ...

Lord Simon Lord Simon may refer to multiple peerages in the United Kingdom: Hereditary peers *Holders of the title Viscount Simon **John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon (1873–1954) ** John Gilbert Simon, 2nd Viscount Simon (1902–1993) ** Jan David Simon, 3rd ...

said of Thring: "Such a capable fellow, very hard-working, full of common sense ... The only trouble was, he couldn't draft!" ''

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'' ...

'' was more sympathetic, recalling that "If as a draftsman Thring will not be placed in the same rank as his famous uncle, Lord Thring, Ilbert, or Chalmers, his reputation, in times more difficult than theirs, stood the test of legal interpretation". In 1917, he became

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parli ...

, serving until retirement in 1930. He was appointed Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

in the November

1902 Birthday Honours The 1902 Birthday Honours were announced on 10 November 1902, to celebrate the birthday of Edward VII the previous day. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and the British Empire. The list was publi ...

list, and promoted to Knight Commander (KCB) six years later. A Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset, Thring was also Deputy Chairman of the county's Quarter Sessions. He enjoyed

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles c ...

and spent parliamentary vacations at

Charlton Mackrell Charlton Mackrell is a village in civil parish of The Charltons, in the county of Somerset, England, situated east of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,020. The parish consists of two villages, Charlton ...

. He died on 17 April 1932, leaving a widow (Georgina, ''née'' Bovill) and a son,

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

George Arthur Thring George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, DSO (1903–2001)."Rear Admiral George Thring"
''

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

'', 31 December 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2019.

References

{{s-end 1860 births 1932 deaths English lawyers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Alumni of New College, Oxford People from Somerset Clerks of the Parliaments