Sir Wintringham Norton Stable, (19 March 1888 – 23 November 1977) was a British High Court judge from 1938 to 1968. Stable, known as "Owlie", was admitted to 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 ...

on 13 November 1908, 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 ...

on 27 January 1913, and was appointed to the Bench of the High Court on 26 November 1938. He was head of chambers at 2, Crown Office Row, which towards the end of his life moved premises and became known as

Fountain Court Chambers Fountain Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers based in the Temple in London and with offices in Singapore. It has 105 full members (in addition to door tenants), of whom 45 are silks. It is in the Magic Circle. The head of chambe ...

. He admitted colleagues who gained his set a strong reputation for commercial litigation, especially Melford Stevenson QC, who succeeded him as head of chambers, Leslie Scarman QC, and Alan Orr QC.

Early life

The third and only surviving son of Daniel Wintringham Stable, a barrister and director of the Prudential, and his wife Gertrude, Stable 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

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. His legal career was delayed by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He served throughout the conflict, first with the

Montgomeryshire Yeomanry The Montgomeryshire Yeomanry was a Welsh auxiliary unit of the British Army first formed in 1803. It served in home defence and for internal security, including deployments to deal with Chartist disturbances in the 1830s. It provided volunteers ...

and then with the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

and was awarded the MC. His elder brother was killed in 1914. He married Lucie Murphy (née Freeman, d. 1976) in 1916. She was a widow with a young daughter. They had two sons, Philip and

Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...

, both of whom became QCs.

Legal career

Commencing practice in 1919, Stable specialised in bankruptcy work and in 1935 took silk. Appointed a High Court judge in 1938, he served until 1968 and was made a

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

in 1965. In 1954 he presided over the "Philanderer Trial" (R. v. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd.) and his summing up led to an applauded acquittal and the discouragement of prosecutions for all but clear cases of obscenity. His sentences in serious cases were not lenient, but they did not provoke public criticism. He had a reputation for showing 'tender mercy' to those he felt were the victims of circumstance. He twice used the words "my dear" to a girl placed on probation in 1961 after she had been found guilty of harbouring a man convicted of a capital murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stable, Wintringham English barristers 1888 births 1977 deaths Queen's Bench Division judges Recipients of the Military Cross Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Knights Bachelor British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century English lawyers