Judge George Cecil Whiteley KCMADLJP (1875–1942), was
Common Serjeant of London
The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose o ...
, where he had an undistinguished academic record, before studying at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
Classical Tripos
The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied L ...
. He was appointed a Treasury Counsel in 1915, in which year he appeared for the prosecution at the Old Bailey with
Archibald Bodkin
Sir Archibald Henry Bodkin KCB (1 April 1862''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'' – 31 December 1957) was an English lawyer and the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1920 to 1930. He particularl ...
(later
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members of ...
) and
Travers Humphreys
Sir Richard Somers Travers Christmas Humphreys (4 August 1867 – 20 February 1956) was a noted British barrister and judge who, during a sixty-year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde and the murderers Hawley Harvey Crippen, ...
against George Joseph Smith, the 'Brides in the Bath' murderer. In 1919 Whiteley prosecuted in the case of the
Epsom Riot
The Epsom riot occurred when about 400 Canadian soldiers rioted and attacked the police station in Epsom, Surrey on 17 June 1919, resulting in the death of Station-Sergeant Thomas Green, a British police officer, who died of his injuries the f ...
, when about four hundred
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
soldiers rioted and attacked the police station at
Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. ...
on
June 17, 1919. During the riot Station-Sergeant Green was so badly injured that he died the following day.
He was appointed Recorder of
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in 1920, and a
King'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 ...
(KC) in 1921. In the 1922
Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters
Edith Jessie Thompson (25 December 1893 – 9 January 1923) and Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters (27 June 1902 – 9 January 1923) were a British couple executed for the murder of Thompson's husband Percy. Their case became a ''cause c ...
murder case Whiteley defended Bywaters. In 1925 Whiteley served as the Chairman of the Surrey Quarter Sessions and, in 1931, of the London Quarter Sessions. He was the Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Surrey in 1925. He became of Recorder of
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...
in 1929, and of
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...
in 1930.Whiteley, Cecil 'Brief Life' Pub. MacMillan & Co. Ltd (1942) pg 213
Whiteley was a Judge at the Mayor's and City of London Court from 1932 to 1934; in the latter year he succeeded
Henry Holman Gregory
Sir Henry Holman Gregory (30 June 1864 – 9 May 1947) was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal Party politician.
Family and education
Holman Gregory was born at Bath in Somerset, the son of H T Gregory a well-known Bath solicitor. He was educ ...
Common Serjeant of London
The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...
, an ancient office first recorded in 1291 with the appointment of
Thomas Juvenal
Thomas Juvenal (died 1309) was the first known Common Serjeant of London, an ancient British legal office, first recorded with his appointment in 1291, and which is the second most senior permanent judge in London after the Recorder of London, a ...
, and the second most senior
judicial
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
Recorder of London
The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the C ...
. In 1939 he became a Governor of
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose o ...
.Norah Turner , the socialite (later Lady Docker) was a dance hostess at London’s Cafe de Paris when a young woman. Her autobiography records that she courted by three men simultaneously, known as ‘The Judge, the Duke and the Frenchman’.'The Judge' was Cecil Whiteley and 'The Duke' was the Ninth Duke of Marlborough.
In the 1981
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English ...
television series '' The Lady Killers'' an episode called ''Darlingest Boy'' dealt with the Thompson-Bywaters murder case. In it Whiteley was played by actor
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...