Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing CMG QC (24 July 1909 – 24 April 1977) was a British barrister and politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

from 1945 to 1955. He was also

Attorney General of Ghana The Attorney General of Ghana is the chief legal advisor to the Ghanaian government. The attorney general is also responsible for the Ministry of Justice (Ghana), Ministry of Justice. The Attorney General also serves as a member of the General Leg ...

Education and career

Born at

Craigavad Craigavad () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying within the civil parish of Holywood and the historic barony of Castlereagh Lower. Suburban and residential in character, Craigavad lies between the centre of Holywood and Bango ...

near

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Bing was educated at

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County D ...

(of which his father was the founding headmaster) and

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

before going on to

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, where he read history. He graduated with a second-class degree in 1931, before attending

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where he was a Jane Eliza Procter Visiting Fellow between 1932 and 1933. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1934. Always a

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

and a member of the socialist left, Bing was active in the Haldane Society and the

National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes huma ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he joined the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

as a journalist, barely avoiding capture at

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. He was also an early anti-Nazi. During

World War II 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 ...

, he served in the

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

, attaining the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. A 1943 experiment with parachutes at the GSO2 Airborne Forces Development Centre left him disfigured and he bore the scars for many years. At the 1945 general election, Bing stood for Labour in Hornchurch, winning the seat. He was re-elected in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

and

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, serving until 1955. He served briefly as a junior

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

in 1945-46 but this was widely thought to have been the unintended result of confusion on the part of

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

, who confused him for another Labour MP of a similar name.

Backbencher

On the backbenches, Bing was, according to his ''Times'' obituary, "the unrestrained leader of a small group of radicals, never fully trusted by their colleagues and known as 'Bing Boys'". He took a particular interest in the cases of

Timothy Evans Timothy John Evans (20 November 1924 – 9 March 1950) was a Welsh lorry driver who was wrongfully accused of murdering his wife Beryl and infant daughter Geraldine at their residence in Notting Hill, London. In January 1950, Evans was tried a ...

and John Christie, and he supported the campaign to overturn the conviction of Evans, which was ultimately successful. He supported Communist China and took a keen interest in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the brewers' monopoly and parliamentary procedure. He was also a lawyer, building up a practice in West Africa. He became close to

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

, the first post-colonial president of

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and was appointed Ghana's attorney-general, a post he held until 1961. When Nkrumah was ousted in 1966, Bing was arrested and ill-treated, before being sent home some months later. His memoir of Nkrumah's Ghana, ''Reap the Whirlwind'', was published in 1968.

Personal life

In 1940, he married Christian Frances Blois, former wife of radio producer Edward Archibald Fraser Harding and daughter of

Sir Ralph Barrett Macnaghten Blois, 9th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

. They had two sons,

Inigo Bing Inigo Geoffrey Bing (born 1 April 1944) is a retired judge. Biography Bing is the son of Geoffrey Henry Cecil Bing, and Christian Frances Blois, daughter of Sir Ralph Barrett Macnaghten Blois, 9th Baronet. Inigo Bing's early education was at ...

and Richard Bing, before divorcing in 1955. In 1956, he married, secondly, Eileen Mary Cullen. They adopted a son, Patrick Adotey Bing.

References

External links

*
Picture of Geoffery Bing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bing, Geoffrey 1909 births 1977 deaths 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Barristers from Northern Ireland British Army personnel of World War II British expatriates in Ghana International Brigades personnel Justice ministers of Ghana Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Tonbridge School Lawyers from County Down Royal Corps of Signals officers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 People educated at Rockport School Attorneys general of Ghana Companions_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George