Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe GBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
,
PCHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
(1899–1977) was a British lawyer and law lord most famous for his partitioning of the British Imperial territory of India.
Birth and early career
Radcliffe was born in Llanychan,
DenbighshireDenbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales...
. He was conscripted in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
but his poor eyesight limited the options for service so he was allocated to the
Labour CorpsLabour Corps may be:*A forerunner of the British Royal Pioneer Corps*Solomon Islands Labour Corps, a Second World War organisation in the British Solomon Islands*Chinese Labour Corps, a British corps in the First World War...
. He attended Oxford University, was elected to a Fellowship at All Souls College, and was called to the bar in 1924; the meteoric legal rise that followed was interrupted by
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Second World War and the Indian Boundary Committees
Radcliffe joined the Ministry of Information becoming its
Director-GeneralThe term director-general is used worldwide to signify the highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution...
by 1941, where he worked closely with the Minister Brendan Bracken. After the war he resumed legal practice but this was again interrupted in 1947 when he was given the chairmanship of the two boundary committees set up with the passing of the
Indian Independence ActThe Indian Independence Act 1947 was the statute enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom promulgating the partition of India and the independence of the dominions of Pakistan and India...
: his sole Indian connection was the death of his eldest brother while on active service in the country. The Radcliffe Award was carried out in the greatest secrecy but there was still pressure to adjust the line between the two emergent nations of
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
for political reasons. The immediate consequences of partition were horrendous for both countries though it is doubtful that anything Radcliffe could have done would have made a great difference; even the most carefully crafted border would have provoked the massive population migrations which resulted. Radcliffe was at all turns harassed and hurried by outgoing
ViceroyA viceroy is a royal official who runs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. His province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty. The relative...
MountbattenAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, who turned out to be ill prepared for the consequences of the Awards.
In fact, after seeing the mayhem occurring on both sides of the boundary that was created by him, Cyril Radcliffe did the only thing he could have done to protest against Mountbatten. He refused his salary of 40000 rupees that was given to him for doing the most important job of his life.
Later career
- 3 June 1947 : Cyril Radcliffe appointed as the chairman of the Boundary Commission
- 8 July 1947 : Cyril Radcliffe arrives in Delhi
Delhi, known locally as Dilli , and also by the official name National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India...
- 13 August 1947 : Cyril Radcliffe submits the report (the partition map)
- 14,15 August 1947 : Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
and IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
were divided and declared as independent nations
Law Lord
Radcliffe was made a law lord and
life peerIn the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles may not be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in 1949 as
Baron Radcliffe, of
WernethWerneth is an area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It is west-southwest of Oldham's commercial centre and one of Oldham's most ancient localities.-History:...
in the County of
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
. Unusually, he had not previously been a judge.
Public Enquiries
In the 1940s and 1950s he chaired a string of public enquiries in addition to his legal duties and continued to hold numerous trusteeships, governorships and chairmanships right up until his death. He chaired the Committee of Enquiry into the Future of the
British Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
(1948), whose recommendations led to the modernisation of the BFI in the post-war period.
He was also a frequent public speaker and wrote numerous books: he gave the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
Reith LectureThe Reith Lectures are series of annual radio lectures given by leading figures of the day, commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on BBC Radio 4...
in 1951 on the subject
The problem of power, and the Oxford University Romanes Lecture in 1963 on
Mountstuart ElphinstoneMountstuart Elphinstone was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay where he is credited with the opening of several educational institutions accessible to the Indian population...
.
Honours
He was made
KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1944,
GBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1948, became member of the
privy councilHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
in 1949 and advanced to a
ViscountcyViscountcy may refer to:* The office or title of a Viscount* Viscountcy of Béarn...
in 1962, which became extinct with his death fifteen years later.
In 2006, two sets of Chancery barristers' chambers in Lincoln's Inn merged and adopted the name
'Radcliffe Chambers' in his honour.
See also
- Radcliffe Line
The Radcliffe Line became the border between India and Pakistan on 17 August 1947 after the Partition of India. The line was decided by the Border Commissions chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who was to divide equitably of territory with 88 million people....
- Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India that led to the creation, on August 14, 1947 and August 15, 1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India...