The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Sir Stephen Ogle Henn-Collins,

CBE 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 ...

(14 September 1875 – 16 October 1958) was an English barrister and High Court judge.

Biography

Stephen Ogle Collins was the younger son of the distinguished lawyer and

law lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

Richard Henn Collins, Baron Collins. (Stephen Collins later adapted his surname to Henn-Collins.) He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he took honours in Jurisprudence. He was called to the bar 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 1899. Collins was a copyright specialist. He was also standing counsel for the Law Society, and junior common law counsel to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

. He was appointed a

in 1925 and

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1932. The enactment of the

Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 The Matrimonial Causes Act 1937 ( 1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 57) is a law on divorce in the United Kingdom. It extended the grounds for divorce, which until then only included adultery, to include unlawful desertion for three years or more, cruelty ...

greatly increased the volume of divorce cases in the

Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

of the High Court of Justice, which only had three judges at the time. As a consequence, the Supreme Court of Judicature (Amendment) Act 1937 authorized the appointment of two additional High Court judges. Henn-Collins was selected by Lord Hailsham to fill one of the two new positions and assigned to the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, even though he was inexperienced in divorce matters and disliked them. He received the customary

knighthood 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 December 1937. In 1945, on the promotion of Mr Justice Tucker to the Court of Appeal, Henn-Collins was transferred to the

King'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 ...

. He retired in 1948.

Personal life

Henn-Collins married Agnes Julia Lambert in 1899; they had a son and three daughters. In his private life, Henn-Collins had strong artistic interests, and was a skilled violin-maker, a hobby which "was the least expected in one of his Majesty's Judges".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henn-Collins, Stephen Knights Bachelor 1958 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sons of life peers English barristers English King's Counsel Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division judges Queen's Bench Division judges 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Middle Temple People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford