Sir Ralph Kilner Brown,

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 ...

, TD, DL (28 August 1909 – 15 June 2003), was a British

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Background

He was born in Calcutta, the son of Rev. A. E. Brown. He was educated at

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Bishop Vesey's Grammar School (BVGS) is a selective state grammar school with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1527, it is one of the oldest schools in Britain, the oldest state school in the West Midlan ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He married, in 1943, Cynthia Rosemary Breffit. They had one son, two daughters and five grandchildren.

Sports career

Brown represented the

Achilles Club The Achilles Club is a track and field by and for the past and present representatives of the University of Oxford, Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge Universities. As of 2025, members have won 19 Olympic Games, Olympic gold medals a ...

and became the national 440y hurdles champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1934 AAA Championships. Shortly afterwards, he represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

, where he won the bronze medal in the 440 yards

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

event. He missed the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

due to injury. His brother Godfrey and sister

Audrey Audrey () is a feminine given name. It is rarely a masculine given name. Audrey is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Æðelþryð'', composed of the elements '' æðel'' "noble" and '' þryð'' "strength". The literal definition of ...

both won medals.

Professional career

In 1934 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 ...

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 ...

and worked at the chambers of Donald Finnemore. He was commissioned into the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

in March 1939 and served on Field Marshal Montgomery's staff planning the Normandy landings. In 1954 he was appointed deputy chairman of the Warwickshire Quarter Sessions, becoming chairman ten years later. He served as recorder of Lincoln from 1960 to 1964 and recorder of Birmingham from 1964 to 1965. He was an additional judge at the Old Bailey before becoming

Recorder of Liverpool The recorder of Liverpool or, since 1971, the honorary recorder of Liverpool is an ancient legal office in the Liverpool, City of Liverpool, England. The Recorder (judge), recorder is appointed by the Council, by virtue osection 54 of the Courts Ac ...

from 1967 to 1969. He became a High Court judge in 1970 on the Northern Circuit and served until 1985. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in February 1970 and also appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire. In 1991 his first book was published ''Top Brass and No Brass: Inside Story of the Alliance Between Britain and America''.

Political career

At Cambridge University he was the runner-up for the Presidency of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the oldest ...

and president of the University Liberal Club, 1931–2. He had become noticed already through his many impassioned speeches as a Young Liberal in opposition to appeasement. In 1939 he was adopted as Liberal

prospective parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...

for the

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

Division of Worcestershire in succession to his chambers boss Donald Finnemore, but had to wait until after the war ended in 1945 to fight an election. Despite starting in third place, he managed to increase the Liberal share of the vote; He was President of Birmingham Liberal Organisation, 1946–56. At the 1950 General Election, after boundary changes, Stourbridge was divided with part going into the new Oldbury and Halesowen seat. He fought this new seat for the Liberals, finishing third again: He was chairman of the West Midlands Liberal Federation, 1950–56. He was a member of the Liberal Party National Executive, 1950–56. In 1959 he was Liberal candidate for the South Buckinghamshire Division. At the general election he finished third once more: He continued to play an active part within the Liberal Party at a national level, being a Member of Liberal Party Council. He fought South Buckinghamshire again at the following general election in 1964 and this time pushed the Labour candidate into third place. However, this was his last parliamentary contest. In 1970 he declined an invitation to become a Liberal peer but accepted a knighthood.Cripplegate Ward Club

References

External links

Obituary
in ''

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

,'' 20. Juni 2003
Profile
at ''TOPS in athletics'' *Cripplegate Ward Club
obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ralph Kilner 1909 births 2003 deaths Military personnel of British India People educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Athletes from Kolkata Members of the Middle Temple British sportsperson-politicians Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates 20th-century English judges English male hurdlers British male hurdlers Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1934 British Empire Games British Army personnel of World War II Deputy lieutenants of Warwickshire Queen's Bench Division judges Royal Army Service Corps officers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 1934 British Empire Games Military personnel from Kolkata British sportspeople in British India 20th-century English sportsmen People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics