George Cecil Whiteley KC MA DL JP (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 ...

from 1933 to 1942 and a Judge at the

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. Cecil Whiteley attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, 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 of ...

, where he had an undistinguished academic record, before studying at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he graduated BA in 1897 with a Third Class degree in the

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 University. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previ ...

. He was appointed a Treasury Counsel in 1915, in which year he appeared for the prosecution at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

with

Archibald Bodkin Sir Archibald Henry Bodkin Order of the Bath, 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 (England and W ...

(later Director of Public Prosecutions) and

Travers Humphreys Sir Richard Somers Travers Christmas Humphreys (4 August 1867 – 20 February 1956) was a noted British barrister who, during a sixty-year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde and the murderers Hawley Harvey Crippen, George Jo ...

against

George Joseph Smith George Joseph Smith (11 January 1872 – 13 August 1915) was an English serial killer and bigamist who was convicted and subsequently hanged for the murders of three women in 1915. The case became known as the Brides in the Bath Murders. As well ...

, the 'Brides in the Bath' murderer. In 1919 Whiteley prosecuted in the case of the Epsom Riot, when about four hundred

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soldiers rioted and attacked the police station at

Epsom Epsom is a town in 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 Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

on 17 June 1919. During the riot Station-Sergeant Green was so badly injured that he died the following day. He was appointed

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Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1920, and a

King'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 ...

(KC) in 1921. In the 1922 Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters 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 Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1925. He became of

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

in 1929, and of

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in 1930.Whiteley, Cecil 'Brief Life' Pub. MacMillan & Co. Ltd (1942) pg 213 Whiteley was a Judge at the

from 1932 to 1934; in the latter year he succeeded Henry Holman Gregory KC as

, an ancient office first recorded in 1291 with the appointment of Thomas Juvenal, 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 ...

position at the

after the

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 Cr ...

. In 1939 he became a Governor of

. 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

television series '' The Lady Killers'' an episode called ''Darlingest Boy'' dealt with the Thompson-Bywaters murder case. In it Whiteley was played by actor

Terrence Hardiman Terrence Edward Hardiman (6 April 1937 – 18 April 2023) was an English actor. He often portrayed authority figures such as Nazi-era personnel ('' Secret Army'', ''Colditz'', ''Wish Me Luck'' and ''Enemy at the Door'') and a British officer (' ...

.''The Lady Killers'' The Season 2, Episode 5: The Darlingest Boy
7 August 1981

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Whiteley died in 1942 aged 67. He was succeeded as Common Serjeant by Hugh Loveday Beazley.

Publications

*Cecil Whiteley, K.C., D.L 'Brief Life' Macmillan & Co., Ltd, London (1942)

References

External links

Whiteley in the collection
of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Whiteley in Old Bailey Proceedings 1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whiteley, Cecil 1875 births 1942 deaths People educated at Dulwich College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English barristers English lawyers English justices of the peace 20th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Common Serjeants of London Deputy lieutenants of Surrey