Sir George Gillespie Baker,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, PC (25 April 1910 – 13 June 1984) was

President of the Family Division The President of the Family Division is the head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales and head of Family Justice. The Family Division was created in 1971 when Admiralty and contentious probate cases were remove ...

(formerly of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division) of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

from 1971 to 1979 and a Judge in the Division from 1961 to 1979. He also served as Assistant Adjutant General on the British War Crimes Executive at the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

from 1945 to 1946.

Biography

George Gillespie Baker was educated at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully private school in ...

;

Strathallan School Strathallan School is a private boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 5-18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff. It h ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

(Hon. Scholarship; Senator Hulme Scholar), where he later became an Honorary Fellow. He received a

Call 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 t ...

by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1932 and would in later life become Treasurer of the Inn in 1976. At the beginning of the

Second World War 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 ...

Baker joined the army and after a brief spell in the

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queen' ...

he was commissioned in the

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Reg ...

in 1940. Baker served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

1941–1942, Assistant Adjutant General with the

Allied Force Headquarters Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) was the headquarters that controlled all Allied operational forces in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II from August 1942 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. History AFHQ was established i ...

1942–44, Colonel 'A'

15th Army Group The 15th Army Group was an army group in World War II, composed of the British Eighth Army and initially the Seventh United States Army (1943), replaced by the Fifth United States Army (from January 1944), which apart from units from across the Br ...

, 1945 and Assistant Adjutant General on the British War Crimes Executive at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945–1946. In 1945 he unsuccessfully contested the

Southall (UK Parliament constituency) Southall was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency from 1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 to 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983. It returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member (MP) to the House of Commons o ...

in the

1945 United Kingdom general election The 1945 United Kingdom general election took place on Thursday 5 July 1945. With World War II, the Second World War still fresh in voters’ minds, the opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party under the leadership of Clement Attlee won a lan ...

as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate. After the war Baker resumed his career at the Bar, mostly on the then

Oxford Circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

. He was

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

in turn of

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

(1946-1951),

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

(1951-1952) and

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

(1952-1961). Appointed a

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 1952, Deputy Chairman of the

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

Quarter Sessions from 1954 until 1971 and Leader of the Oxford Circuit for seven years until his promotion to a High Court Judge in 1961. Baker's deep personal integrity was founded on his staunch Presbyterian faith.

Honours/Awards

* Appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, 1945. * Appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1961. * Appointed a Privy Counsellor of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

in 1971. * Honorary Member

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was ...

. *

Freedom 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 ...

, 1981.

References

* Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 14 June 1984. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, George 1910 births 1984 deaths People educated at the Glasgow Academy People educated at Strathallan School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Cameronians officers British Army personnel of World War II British King's Counsel Family Division judges Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Scottish knights Scottish Presbyterians 20th-century British lawyers Presidents of the Family Division Presidents of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment soldiers War Office personnel in World War II