Sir Ronald Gough Waterhouse, GBE (8 May 1926 – 8 May 2011) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales between 1978 and 1996. As a judge his highest profile case was when he presided over the acquittal of comedian

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A life ...

on charges of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. Immediately upon his retirement he led a three-year inquiry into the North Wales child abuse scandal, which reported in 2000.

Life and career

Ronald Gough Waterhouse was born in Holywell,

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

, one of five children of a textile mill manager who was also a prominent local Liberal politician. He studied at

Holywell Grammar School Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Sussex, E ...

, trained as a pilot with the RAF Volunteer Reserve, and began studying law at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

. Returning to university after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he became President of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debatin ...

in 1950, and was called to the bar in 1952.Obituary of Sir Ronald Waterhouse, The Daily Telegraph, 8 June 2011
Accessed 5 November 2012 He established a

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

practice in London and on the Wales and Chester Circuit, and, in 1959, stood unsuccessfully for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

as the Labour candidate for West Flintshire. He was junior

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

at the Aberfan Inquiry in 1966, and junior prosecuting counsel at the trial of the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. He took Silk to become

Queen'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 ...

in 1969. In 1970–71, he chaired an inquiry into government policy on

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, vio ...

prevention, which recommended stringent controls on the import of cats and dogs into Britain. He became a High Court judge in 1978, and was knighted the same year. He sat initially in the Family Division and later, from 1988, in the

Queen’s Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

where he presided over Ken Dodd's trial in 1989. After his retirement in 1996, he was appointed to chair the Tribunal of Inquiry established by the

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...

William Hague William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

, into allegations of hundreds of cases of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to ...

in care homes in

Clwyd Clwyd () is a preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English ceremonial counties of Cheshire to ...

and

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

between 1974 and 1990. The inquiry began in January 1997 and sat for 203 days, hearing evidence from more than 650 people.BBC News, ''Call for new investigation into north Wales abuse scandal'', 2 November 2012
Accessed 5 November 2012 Waterhouse kept handwritten notes throughout the trial, ensuring that they were summarised in his report. His final report ran to more than a thousand pages, and was published in February 2000, as ''Lost in Care''. It proposed a series of radical changes to the ways in which the needs of children in care were addressed;Mark Smith, ''Rethinking Residential Child Care: Positive Perspectives'', 2009, pp.41-44
/ref> all of its 72 recommendations were implemented. However, the Inquiry was later criticised for the narrowness of its remit, which meant that claims of abuse by politicians and others outside the care home system, which were raised by some participants, were not considered. In view of the concerns raised, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

, announced on 6 November 2012 that Mrs Justice Julia Macur would head a review into the "scope and conduct" of the Waterhouse Inquiry in the light of claims that it examined only a fraction of the abuse that went on. Waterhouse was also president of the International Eisteddfod at

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...

from 1994 to 1997, and between 2000 and 2005 chaired the Independent Supervisory Authority on Hunting. His memoir "Child of Another Century: Recollections of a High Court Judge" was published by IB Tauris in 2013.

Personal life and death

He married Sarah Selina Ingram in 1960 and had three children. He died on his 85th birthday in 2011. Lady Waterhouse died in 2021.Waterhouse
/ref>

References

7. "Child of Another Century: Recollections of a High Court Judge" Ronald Waterhouse (IB Tauris) 2013.

External links

Waterhouse Inquiry report, ''Lost in care''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, Ronald 1926 births 2011 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Welsh King's Counsel Family Division judges Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Holywell, Flintshire Presidents of the Cambridge Union Queen's Bench Division judges 20th-century King's Counsel Royal Air Force pilots of World War II 20th-century Welsh judges Welsh memoirists Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II