Patrick Hastings
Encyclopedia
Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings KC
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
in what became known as the Campbell Case
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Hastings was born on 17 March 1880 in London to Alfred Gardiner Hastings and Kate Comyns Carr, a painter and the sister of J. Comyns Carr
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
in Corsica
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Hastings left the failed mining operation in 1899, and travelled to London. Just after he arrived, the Second Boer War
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
to a pawnbroker
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
At the time, there was no organised way for a new barrister to find a pupil master
or set of chambers
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
, Henry Duke
and Edward Carson
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
At the start of the court vacation in August 1904, Hastings decided that it would be best to find a tenancy
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
s were unlikely to give briefs
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
His first major case was "The Case of the Hooded Man". On 9 October 1912, the driver of a horse-drawn carriage noticed a crouching man near the front door of the house of Countess Flora Sztaray in Eastbourne
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
s to the High Court of Justice
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
".
, a noted Liberal
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
(at the time Minister of Munitions
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
KC and Douglas Hogg
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
formed a House of Lords
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
During his time at the Bar, Hastings was involved in a variety of libel cases and in a divorce case which significantly changed the law relating to the admission of evidence from spouses regarding the legitimacy or illegitimacy of a child. His first significant libel case was Siever v Wootton. Robert Sievier was a well-known horse racing journalist and owner with a reputation for brushes with the law and underhanded dealings, having previously been tried for blackmail and acquitted on a technicality. In 1913 he accused Richard Wootton, a noted trainer of racehorses, of ordering his jockeys to withdraw from races if he had bet on another horse so as to allow him to make large amounts of money. Wootton sued him for libel and won, but was granted only a symbolic farthing in damages because the jury thought that Sievier had not intended to cause harm. As a result of this pyrrhic victory
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
, who set a common law
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
.
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
in the 1918 general election
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
posts. John Paton
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
the Irish Free State
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
. After a brief civil war
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
Baldwin's Conservatives
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
.
On 6 August Campbell's house was raided, and he was arrested by the police. On the same day John Scurr
, a Labour backbencher
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
In 1928, Hastings became involved in the Savidge Inquiry. Sir Leo Chiozza Money
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
, Lord Kylsant
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
, with Sir William Jowitt
, D. N. Pritt
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
, Frederick Tucker
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
and Godfrey Tearle
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
, the Secretary of State for Air
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
as a squadron leader
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
, a cartoonist.
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
in what became known as the Campbell Case
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Hastings was born on 17 March 1880 in London to Alfred Gardiner Hastings and Kate Comyns Carr, a painter and the sister of J. Comyns Carr
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
in Corsica
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Hastings left the failed mining operation in 1899, and travelled to London. Just after he arrived, the Second Boer War
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
to a pawnbroker
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
At the time, there was no organised way for a new barrister to find a pupil master
or set of chambers
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
, Henry Duke
and Edward Carson
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
At the start of the court vacation in August 1904, Hastings decided that it would be best to find a tenancy
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
s were unlikely to give briefs
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
His first major case was "The Case of the Hooded Man". On 9 October 1912, the driver of a horse-drawn carriage noticed a crouching man near the front door of the house of Countess Flora Sztaray in Eastbourne
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
s to the High Court of Justice
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
".
, a noted Liberal
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
(at the time Minister of Munitions
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
KC and Douglas Hogg
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
formed a House of Lords
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
During his time at the Bar, Hastings was involved in a variety of libel cases and in a divorce case which significantly changed the law relating to the admission of evidence from spouses regarding the legitimacy or illegitimacy of a child. His first significant libel case was Siever v Wootton. Robert Sievier was a well-known horse racing journalist and owner with a reputation for brushes with the law and underhanded dealings, having previously been tried for blackmail and acquitted on a technicality. In 1913 he accused Richard Wootton, a noted trainer of racehorses, of ordering his jockeys to withdraw from races if he had bet on another horse so as to allow him to make large amounts of money. Wootton sued him for libel and won, but was granted only a symbolic farthing in damages because the jury thought that Sievier had not intended to cause harm. As a result of this pyrrhic victory
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
, who set a common law
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
.
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
in the 1918 general election
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
posts. John Paton
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
the Irish Free State
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
. After a brief civil war
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
Baldwin's Conservatives
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
.
On 6 August Campbell's house was raided, and he was arrested by the police. On the same day John Scurr
, a Labour backbencher
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
In 1928, Hastings became involved in the Savidge Inquiry. Sir Leo Chiozza Money
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
, Lord Kylsant
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
, with Sir William Jowitt
, D. N. Pritt
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
, Frederick Tucker
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
and Godfrey Tearle
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
, the Secretary of State for Air
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
as a squadron leader
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
, a cartoonist.
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
in what became known as the Campbell Case
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Hastings was born on 17 March 1880 in London to Alfred Gardiner Hastings and Kate Comyns Carr, a painter and the sister of J. Comyns Carr
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
in Corsica
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Hastings left the failed mining operation in 1899, and travelled to London. Just after he arrived, the Second Boer War
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
to a pawnbroker
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
At the time, there was no organised way for a new barrister to find a pupil master
or set of chambers
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
, Henry Duke
and Edward Carson
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
At the start of the court vacation in August 1904, Hastings decided that it would be best to find a tenancy
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
s were unlikely to give briefs
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
His first major case was "The Case of the Hooded Man". On 9 October 1912, the driver of a horse-drawn carriage noticed a crouching man near the front door of the house of Countess Flora Sztaray in Eastbourne
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
s to the High Court of Justice
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
".
, a noted Liberal
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
(at the time Minister of Munitions
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
KC and Douglas Hogg
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
formed a House of Lords
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
During his time at the Bar, Hastings was involved in a variety of libel cases and in a divorce case which significantly changed the law relating to the admission of evidence from spouses regarding the legitimacy or illegitimacy of a child. His first significant libel case was Siever v Wootton. Robert Sievier was a well-known horse racing journalist and owner with a reputation for brushes with the law and underhanded dealings, having previously been tried for blackmail and acquitted on a technicality. In 1913 he accused Richard Wootton, a noted trainer of racehorses, of ordering his jockeys to withdraw from races if he had bet on another horse so as to allow him to make large amounts of money. Wootton sued him for libel and won, but was granted only a symbolic farthing in damages because the jury thought that Sievier had not intended to cause harm. As a result of this pyrrhic victory
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
, who set a common law
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
.
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
in the 1918 general election
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
posts. John Paton
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
the Irish Free State
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
. After a brief civil war
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
Baldwin's Conservatives
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
.
On 6 August Campbell's house was raided, and he was arrested by the police. On the same day John Scurr
, a Labour backbencher
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
In 1928, Hastings became involved in the Savidge Inquiry. Sir Leo Chiozza Money
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
, Lord Kylsant
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
, with Sir William Jowitt
, D. N. Pritt
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
, Frederick Tucker
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
and Godfrey Tearle
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
, the Secretary of State for Air
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
as a squadron leader
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
, a cartoonist.
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
Case of the Hooded Man
R v Williams 8 Cr App R 133 was a 1912 murder in England that took its name from the hood the defendant, John Williams, wore when travelling to and from court...
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools for manufacturing munitions for the First World War...
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
in what became known as the Campbell Case
Campbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Early life
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Military service and call to the Bar
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
Demobilization
Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
Queen's South Africa Medal
The Queen's South Africa Medal was awarded to military personnel who served in the Boer War in South Africa between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902. Units from the British Army, Royal Navy, colonial forces who took part , civilians employed in official capacity and war correspondents...
to a pawnbroker
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
Daily News (UK)
The Daily News was a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.The News was founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens, who also served as the newspaper's first editor. It was conceived as a radical rival to the right-wing Morning Chronicle. The paper was not at first a commercial success...
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
Career as a barrister
Pupil master
A pupil master is an experienced barrister who takes charge of the training of a newly called barrister. Barristers are called to the Bar at an early stage in their career, after completing the Bar Vocational Course and undertaking a required number of "dinners" in their chosen Inn of Court...
or set of chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
, Henry Duke
Henry Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale
Henry Edward Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale PC, QC , was a British judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1916 and 1918.-Background and education:...
and Edward Carson
Edward Carson, Baron Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
Legal year
In English law, the legal year is the calendar during which the judges sit in court. The year is divided into four terms:* Michaelmas term - from October to December* Hilary term - from January to April* Easter term - from April to May, and...
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
Finding a tenancy
Tenancy (law)
A Tenancy in the English legal system is a space for a barrister in a set of chambers....
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s were unlikely to give briefs
Brief (law)
A brief is a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why the party to the case should prevail....
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
Barristers' clerk
A barristers' clerk is a manager and administrator in a set of barristers' chambers. The term originates in England, and is also used in some other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia. In Scotland, the equivalent role is advocate's clerk....
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
His own chambers
In 1910, Horace Avory became a judge. Hastings first found out when he read the report in the morning newspapers, and was dismayed that he would again have to search for a tenancy at another chambers. He instead had the idea that he could take over Avory's chambers himself, allowing him to avoid the trouble of finding a new tenancy. Maintaining a set of chambers was very expensive, however; as well as paying the rent, the head of chambers would be expected to pay the clerks. Hastings suggested to Avory that Avory could pay the rent, and Hastings would then pay him back when he had the money. Despite Avory's reputation as "cold and hard" he agreed to this idea, and even let Hastings keep the furniture, including Avory's valuable chair which had once belonged to Harry Poland.Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
The Case of the Hooded Man
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
Moorgate station
Moorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
Assizes (England and Wales)
The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court...
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone
Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, GCMG, QC was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices.-Background and education:...
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
s to the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
Panzer Division
A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....
".
First World War
Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Hastings and his family were preparing to travel to Germany for a holiday. On the day of departure he received a note from a client, which read "You tell me you are going to Germany. Don't go, we shall be at war within forty-eight hours". Hastings heeded this warning, and remained in England – war was declared between Britain and Germany less than two days later. Hastings himself volunteered to serve in the armed forces, but was rejected as medically unfit.Gruban v Booth
His next noted civil case was that of Gruban v Booth. John Gruban was a German-born businessman, originally named Johann Wilhelm Gruban, who had come to England in 1893 to work for an engineering company, Haigh and Company. By 1913 he had turned the business from an almost-bankrupt company to a successful manufacturer of machine tools, and at the outbreak of the First World War it was one of the first companies to produce machine tools used to make munitions. This made Gruban a major player in a now-large market, and he attempted to raise £5,000 to expand his business (equivalent to approximately £ as of ). On independent advice, he contacted Frederick Handel BoothFrederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth was a British politician, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1910 to 1918.He was born near Manchester in 1867, and attended the high school in Bolton le Moor....
, a noted Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912. It centred on allegations that highly-placed members of the Liberal government, under H. H...
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
(at the time Minister of Munitions
Minister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort...
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge
Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge QC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1894 when he inherited his peerage....
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
Rigby Swift
Sir Rigby Philip Watson Swift KC was a British barrister, Member of Parliament and judge. Born into a family of solicitors and barristers, Swift was educated at Parkfield School before taking up a place in his father's chambers and at the same time studying for his LLB at the University of London...
KC and Douglas Hogg
Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham
Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham PC was a British lawyer and Conservative politician.-Background:...
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
King's Counsel
His success in Gruban v Booth allowed Hastings to switch his practice from the county courts to the High Court, and at the beginning of Hilary termHilary term
Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term...
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
Select Committee of the House of Lords
His first major case as a King's Counsel was representing a Colonel Bersey at the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air ForceSelect Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force was a Select Committee of the House of Lords created to investigate a complaint by Violet Douglas-Pennant that she had been fired in an attempt by several senior Women's Royal Air Force officers to cover up "rife immorality"...
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
Violet Douglas-Pennant
Commandant Violet Blanche Douglas-Pennant was a British philanthropist and supporter of local government who served as the first commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force until her dismissal in August 1918....
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope
James Richard Stanhope, 13th Earl of Chesterfield and 7th Earl Stanhope KG, DSO, MC, PC , styled Viscount Mahon until 1905, and known as The Earl Stanhope from 1905 until 1967, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Stanhope was the eldest son of Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, and...
formed a House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
Libel and divorce
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup, which was first contested in 1861.From its...
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who set a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill
Captain John Hugo Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill CBE was a British peer who served in the Royal Navy in both the First and Second World Wars.He was the son of Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill...
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill
Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, CBE, PC was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were famously disputed in the "Ampthill Baby Case"....
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
.
Politics
Hastings first became involved in politics after the First World War, when he joined the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
Ilford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ilford was a borough constituency in what is now the London Borough of Redbridge in east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
Law Officers of the Crown
The Law Officers of the Crown are the chief legal advisers to the Crown, and advise and represent the various governments in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms. In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and most Commonwealth and colonial governments, the chief law officer of the...
posts. John Paton
John Paton (UK politician)
John Paton was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1964.He was elected at the 1945 general election as MP for the two-seat Norwich constituency...
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
Internment orders
Following the Irish War of IndependenceIrish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. After a brief civil war
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
Irish Self-Determination League
The Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain was established in London in 1919. Membership peaked at around 20,000 in and was confined to those of Irish birth or descent resident in Great Britain....
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 9 August 1920 to address the collapse of the British civilian administration in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence....
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien [1923] 2 KB 361 was a 1923 test case in English law that sought to have the internment and deportation of Irish nationalist sympathisers earlier that year declared legally invalid...
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
Divisional Court
A Divisional Court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges. Matters heard by a Divisional Court include some criminal cases in the High Court as well as certain judicial review cases...
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
Habeas Corpus Act 1862
The Habeas Corpus Act 1862 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that limited the right of the English courts to issue writs of habeas corpus in British colonies or dominions...
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
Attorney-General
When the new Parliament opened in 1923, the Prime Minister Stanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
Baldwin's Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
Edward Hemmerde
Edward George Hemmerde, KC was an English rower, barrister and politician.-Education, the Law and family:Hemmerde was born at Peckham, south London, the son of James Godfey Hemmerde and his wife Frances Hope. His father was a bank manager and was with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. Hemmerde was...
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
Campbell Case
In 1924 Hastings became involved in the Campbell CaseCampbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
Archibald Bodkin
Sir Archibald Henry Bodkin KCB was an English lawyer and the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1920 to 1930. He particularly took a stand against the publication of what he saw as 'obscene' literature.-Early years:...
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny....
.
John Scurr
John Scurr , born John Rennie, was an English Labour Party politician and trade union official who served as Member of Parliament for Mile End from 1923 to 1931....
, a Labour backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
James Maxton
James Maxton was a Scottish socialist politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era.-Early years:...
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
Henry Slesser
Sir Henry Herman Slesser, KC was a barrister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and later a senior judge....
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
Travers Humphreys
The Rt. Hon. Sir Travers Humphreys PC was a noted British barrister and judge who, during a sixty year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde, Hawley Harvey Crippen, George Joseph Smith, the 'Brides in the Bath' murderer, and John George Haigh, the 'Acid Bath Murderer'.-Legal...
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
Robert Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan
Robert Stevenson Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan GBE, PC, KC was a Scottish businessman, advocate and Unionist politician. He served under David Lloyd George as Minister of Labour between 1919 and 1920, as President of the Board of Trade between 1920 and 1921 and as Chancellor of the...
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
James Henry Thomas
James Henry "Jimmy" Thomas was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.-Early career and Trade Union activities:...
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
Remaining time in politics
Hastings was again returned for Wallsend at the ensuing election, despite the crisis caused by the Zinoviev LetterZinoviev Letter
The "Zinoviev Letter" refers to a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain...
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
Manor of Northstead
The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire in England. By 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd. At present the Manor is part of the Barrowcliff area of the town of...
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
Return to the Bar
After leaving politics, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and eventually surpassed even his previous reputation and success as an advocate. His first major case after returning was representing F. A. Mitchell-HedgesF. A. Mitchell-Hedges
Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges was an English adventurer, traveller, and writer. His name was almost always seen in print as F. A. Mitchell-Hedges; he sometimes went by the name "Mike Hedges". Mitchell-Hedges had a talent for telling colourful stories...
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
Savidge Inquiry
Leo Chiozza Money
Sir Leo George Chiozza Money , born Leone Giorgio Chiozza, was an Italian-born economic theorist who moved to Britain in the 1890s, where he made his name as a politician, journalist and author. In the early years of the 20th century his views attracted the interest of two future Prime Ministers,...
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford PC, PC , DL , known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which...
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles , the daughter of a brewer in Bourne, Lincolnshire, became a pioneer in the establishment of women as officers in the Metropolitan Police.-External links:*....
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
Henry Curtis-Bennett
Sir Henry Honywood Curtis-Bennett was an English barrister and Member of Parliament....
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
United Diamond Fields v Joel
Hastings was next involved in United Diamond Fields of British Guiana Ltd v Joel and Others, which he considered both his most difficult and most interesting case. Following the discovery of the diamond mines in South Africa, men such as Solly Joel had established a diamond syndicate to restrict the amount of diamonds on the market. For this to work, they had to control the entire output of diamonds in the world, which they planned to do by acquiring interests in all of the diamond mines. In 1925, British GuianaBritish Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
Henry McCardie
Sir Henry Alfred McCardie was a controversial British judge. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham he left school at 16 and spent several years working for an auctioneer before qualifying as a barrister and being called to the Bar in 1894...
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
Royal Mail Case
In 1931, Hastings represented John Morland in the Royal Mail CaseRoyal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by Scot James Macqueen. After good and bad times it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the White Star Line....
, Lord Kylsant
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant was a British businessman and politician, later jailed for producing a document with intent to deceive.-Background:...
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
Robert Wright, Baron Wright
Robert Alderson Wright, Baron Wright, GCMG, PC was a British judge.On 11 April 1932, he was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created additionally a life peer with the title Baron Wright, of Durley in the County of Wiltshire, however resgined as Lord of Appeal already in 1935...
, with Sir William Jowitt
William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt
William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...
, D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
, Frederick Tucker
Frederick Tucker, Baron Tucker
Frederick James Tucker, Baron Tucker PC was a British judge.Tucker was called to the Bar in 1914, was Recorder of Southampton in 1936-37, was Justice of High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division between 1937 to 1945...
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Elvira Barney
Well known to dislike appearing in capital cases and having a heavy workload, Hastings hesitated in 1932 when approached by Sir John Mullens, a trustee of the Stock Exchange, to defend his daughter Elvira Barney on a charge of murder. Mrs Barney, who led a dissolute life of partying and drug-taking, was accused of shooting her lover in the Knightsbridge mews house they shared; she insisted that her gun had gone off by accident in a struggle. Hastings was persuaded to take the case by his wife who remembered that their children had shared a governess who had also cared for "dear little Elvira". He appeared at the Magistrates' Court, where he cross-examined the forensic scientist Sir Bernard SpilsburyBernard Spilsbury
Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was an English pathologist. His cases include Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Seddon case and Major Armstrong poisonings, the "brides in the bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, Louis Voisin, Jean-Pierre Vaquier, the Crumbles murders, Norman Thorne, Donald Merrett, the...
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
Oswald Mosley
Hastings appeared for Sir Oswald MosleyOswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
The Star (London)
The Star was a London evening newspaper founded in 1788.The first edition was printed on 3 May 1788 under the editorship of Peter Stuart. Founding sponsors of the new paper included publisher John Murray and William Lane of the Minerva Press...
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
Work as a playwright
As well as his work as a barrister, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. His first play was The Moscow Doctor, based on a novel by Seton Merriman which he had rewritten; it ran for over a week in Brighton. He desired to have an original work performed, however, and to this end wrote The River over a period of 20 years before taking it to St James's TheatreSt James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
Owen Nares
Owen Ramsay Nares had a long stage and film career and, for most of the 1920s, was Britain's favourite matinée idol and silent film star...
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
and Godfrey Tearle
Godfrey Tearle
Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential Englishman on stage and in both English and US films.-Biography:...
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram KCVO PC was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.-Early life and career:He was born in Worcestershire, the fourth son of the Revd Edward Winnington-Ingram and of Louisa...
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
Retirement and death
Hastings retired from most of his work as a barrister in 1938, but soon found a way to occupy himself after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Although far past the age at which he could join the armed forces, Hastings wrote to the Secretary of State for WarSecretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, the Secretary of State for Air
Secretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
as a squadron leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park was a Royal Air Force station in Stanmore, Middlesex .-History:The unit was opened in 1939 and closed in 1997. In 1939 Balloon Command was established at Stanmore Park....
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
Personal life
Hastings married Mary Grundy on 1 June 1906. The couple had two sons, David and Nicholas, and three daughters. David died in the Second World War fighting in the Pacific TheatrePacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Clerihew Bentley was a British author and illustrator famous for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s...
, a cartoonist.
Further reading
Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings KCQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
Case of the Hooded Man
R v Williams 8 Cr App R 133 was a 1912 murder in England that took its name from the hood the defendant, John Williams, wore when travelling to and from court...
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools for manufacturing munitions for the First World War...
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
in what became known as the Campbell Case
Campbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Early life
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Military service and call to the Bar
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
Demobilization
Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
Queen's South Africa Medal
The Queen's South Africa Medal was awarded to military personnel who served in the Boer War in South Africa between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902. Units from the British Army, Royal Navy, colonial forces who took part , civilians employed in official capacity and war correspondents...
to a pawnbroker
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
Daily News (UK)
The Daily News was a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.The News was founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens, who also served as the newspaper's first editor. It was conceived as a radical rival to the right-wing Morning Chronicle. The paper was not at first a commercial success...
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
Career as a barrister
Pupil master
A pupil master is an experienced barrister who takes charge of the training of a newly called barrister. Barristers are called to the Bar at an early stage in their career, after completing the Bar Vocational Course and undertaking a required number of "dinners" in their chosen Inn of Court...
or set of chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
, Henry Duke
Henry Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale
Henry Edward Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale PC, QC , was a British judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1916 and 1918.-Background and education:...
and Edward Carson
Edward Carson, Baron Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
Legal year
In English law, the legal year is the calendar during which the judges sit in court. The year is divided into four terms:* Michaelmas term - from October to December* Hilary term - from January to April* Easter term - from April to May, and...
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
Finding a tenancy
Tenancy (law)
A Tenancy in the English legal system is a space for a barrister in a set of chambers....
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s were unlikely to give briefs
Brief (law)
A brief is a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why the party to the case should prevail....
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
Barristers' clerk
A barristers' clerk is a manager and administrator in a set of barristers' chambers. The term originates in England, and is also used in some other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia. In Scotland, the equivalent role is advocate's clerk....
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
His own chambers
In 1910, Horace Avory became a judge. Hastings first found out when he read the report in the morning newspapers, and was dismayed that he would again have to search for a tenancy at another chambers. He instead had the idea that he could take over Avory's chambers himself, allowing him to avoid the trouble of finding a new tenancy. Maintaining a set of chambers was very expensive, however; as well as paying the rent, the head of chambers would be expected to pay the clerks. Hastings suggested to Avory that Avory could pay the rent, and Hastings would then pay him back when he had the money. Despite Avory's reputation as "cold and hard" he agreed to this idea, and even let Hastings keep the furniture, including Avory's valuable chair which had once belonged to Harry Poland.Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
The Case of the Hooded Man
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
Moorgate station
Moorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
Assizes (England and Wales)
The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court...
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone
Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, GCMG, QC was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices.-Background and education:...
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
s to the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
Panzer Division
A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....
".
First World War
Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Hastings and his family were preparing to travel to Germany for a holiday. On the day of departure he received a note from a client, which read "You tell me you are going to Germany. Don't go, we shall be at war within forty-eight hours". Hastings heeded this warning, and remained in England – war was declared between Britain and Germany less than two days later. Hastings himself volunteered to serve in the armed forces, but was rejected as medically unfit.Gruban v Booth
His next noted civil case was that of Gruban v Booth. John Gruban was a German-born businessman, originally named Johann Wilhelm Gruban, who had come to England in 1893 to work for an engineering company, Haigh and Company. By 1913 he had turned the business from an almost-bankrupt company to a successful manufacturer of machine tools, and at the outbreak of the First World War it was one of the first companies to produce machine tools used to make munitions. This made Gruban a major player in a now-large market, and he attempted to raise £5,000 to expand his business (equivalent to approximately £ as of ). On independent advice, he contacted Frederick Handel BoothFrederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth was a British politician, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1910 to 1918.He was born near Manchester in 1867, and attended the high school in Bolton le Moor....
, a noted Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912. It centred on allegations that highly-placed members of the Liberal government, under H. H...
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
(at the time Minister of Munitions
Minister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort...
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge
Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge QC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1894 when he inherited his peerage....
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
Rigby Swift
Sir Rigby Philip Watson Swift KC was a British barrister, Member of Parliament and judge. Born into a family of solicitors and barristers, Swift was educated at Parkfield School before taking up a place in his father's chambers and at the same time studying for his LLB at the University of London...
KC and Douglas Hogg
Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham
Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham PC was a British lawyer and Conservative politician.-Background:...
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
King's Counsel
His success in Gruban v Booth allowed Hastings to switch his practice from the county courts to the High Court, and at the beginning of Hilary termHilary term
Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term...
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
Select Committee of the House of Lords
His first major case as a King's Counsel was representing a Colonel Bersey at the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air ForceSelect Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force was a Select Committee of the House of Lords created to investigate a complaint by Violet Douglas-Pennant that she had been fired in an attempt by several senior Women's Royal Air Force officers to cover up "rife immorality"...
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
Violet Douglas-Pennant
Commandant Violet Blanche Douglas-Pennant was a British philanthropist and supporter of local government who served as the first commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force until her dismissal in August 1918....
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope
James Richard Stanhope, 13th Earl of Chesterfield and 7th Earl Stanhope KG, DSO, MC, PC , styled Viscount Mahon until 1905, and known as The Earl Stanhope from 1905 until 1967, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Stanhope was the eldest son of Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, and...
formed a House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
Libel and divorce
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup, which was first contested in 1861.From its...
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who set a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill
Captain John Hugo Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill CBE was a British peer who served in the Royal Navy in both the First and Second World Wars.He was the son of Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill...
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill
Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, CBE, PC was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were famously disputed in the "Ampthill Baby Case"....
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
.
Politics
Hastings first became involved in politics after the First World War, when he joined the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
Ilford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ilford was a borough constituency in what is now the London Borough of Redbridge in east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
Law Officers of the Crown
The Law Officers of the Crown are the chief legal advisers to the Crown, and advise and represent the various governments in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms. In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and most Commonwealth and colonial governments, the chief law officer of the...
posts. John Paton
John Paton (UK politician)
John Paton was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1964.He was elected at the 1945 general election as MP for the two-seat Norwich constituency...
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
Internment orders
Following the Irish War of IndependenceIrish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. After a brief civil war
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
Irish Self-Determination League
The Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain was established in London in 1919. Membership peaked at around 20,000 in and was confined to those of Irish birth or descent resident in Great Britain....
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 9 August 1920 to address the collapse of the British civilian administration in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence....
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien [1923] 2 KB 361 was a 1923 test case in English law that sought to have the internment and deportation of Irish nationalist sympathisers earlier that year declared legally invalid...
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
Divisional Court
A Divisional Court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges. Matters heard by a Divisional Court include some criminal cases in the High Court as well as certain judicial review cases...
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
Habeas Corpus Act 1862
The Habeas Corpus Act 1862 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that limited the right of the English courts to issue writs of habeas corpus in British colonies or dominions...
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
Attorney-General
When the new Parliament opened in 1923, the Prime Minister Stanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
Baldwin's Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
Edward Hemmerde
Edward George Hemmerde, KC was an English rower, barrister and politician.-Education, the Law and family:Hemmerde was born at Peckham, south London, the son of James Godfey Hemmerde and his wife Frances Hope. His father was a bank manager and was with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. Hemmerde was...
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
Campbell Case
In 1924 Hastings became involved in the Campbell CaseCampbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
Archibald Bodkin
Sir Archibald Henry Bodkin KCB was an English lawyer and the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1920 to 1930. He particularly took a stand against the publication of what he saw as 'obscene' literature.-Early years:...
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny....
.
John Scurr
John Scurr , born John Rennie, was an English Labour Party politician and trade union official who served as Member of Parliament for Mile End from 1923 to 1931....
, a Labour backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
James Maxton
James Maxton was a Scottish socialist politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era.-Early years:...
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
Henry Slesser
Sir Henry Herman Slesser, KC was a barrister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and later a senior judge....
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
Travers Humphreys
The Rt. Hon. Sir Travers Humphreys PC was a noted British barrister and judge who, during a sixty year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde, Hawley Harvey Crippen, George Joseph Smith, the 'Brides in the Bath' murderer, and John George Haigh, the 'Acid Bath Murderer'.-Legal...
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
Robert Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan
Robert Stevenson Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan GBE, PC, KC was a Scottish businessman, advocate and Unionist politician. He served under David Lloyd George as Minister of Labour between 1919 and 1920, as President of the Board of Trade between 1920 and 1921 and as Chancellor of the...
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
James Henry Thomas
James Henry "Jimmy" Thomas was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.-Early career and Trade Union activities:...
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
Remaining time in politics
Hastings was again returned for Wallsend at the ensuing election, despite the crisis caused by the Zinoviev LetterZinoviev Letter
The "Zinoviev Letter" refers to a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain...
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
Manor of Northstead
The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire in England. By 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd. At present the Manor is part of the Barrowcliff area of the town of...
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
Return to the Bar
After leaving politics, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and eventually surpassed even his previous reputation and success as an advocate. His first major case after returning was representing F. A. Mitchell-HedgesF. A. Mitchell-Hedges
Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges was an English adventurer, traveller, and writer. His name was almost always seen in print as F. A. Mitchell-Hedges; he sometimes went by the name "Mike Hedges". Mitchell-Hedges had a talent for telling colourful stories...
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
Savidge Inquiry
Leo Chiozza Money
Sir Leo George Chiozza Money , born Leone Giorgio Chiozza, was an Italian-born economic theorist who moved to Britain in the 1890s, where he made his name as a politician, journalist and author. In the early years of the 20th century his views attracted the interest of two future Prime Ministers,...
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford PC, PC , DL , known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which...
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles , the daughter of a brewer in Bourne, Lincolnshire, became a pioneer in the establishment of women as officers in the Metropolitan Police.-External links:*....
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
Henry Curtis-Bennett
Sir Henry Honywood Curtis-Bennett was an English barrister and Member of Parliament....
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
United Diamond Fields v Joel
Hastings was next involved in United Diamond Fields of British Guiana Ltd v Joel and Others, which he considered both his most difficult and most interesting case. Following the discovery of the diamond mines in South Africa, men such as Solly Joel had established a diamond syndicate to restrict the amount of diamonds on the market. For this to work, they had to control the entire output of diamonds in the world, which they planned to do by acquiring interests in all of the diamond mines. In 1925, British GuianaBritish Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
Henry McCardie
Sir Henry Alfred McCardie was a controversial British judge. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham he left school at 16 and spent several years working for an auctioneer before qualifying as a barrister and being called to the Bar in 1894...
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
Royal Mail Case
In 1931, Hastings represented John Morland in the Royal Mail CaseRoyal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by Scot James Macqueen. After good and bad times it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the White Star Line....
, Lord Kylsant
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant was a British businessman and politician, later jailed for producing a document with intent to deceive.-Background:...
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
Robert Wright, Baron Wright
Robert Alderson Wright, Baron Wright, GCMG, PC was a British judge.On 11 April 1932, he was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created additionally a life peer with the title Baron Wright, of Durley in the County of Wiltshire, however resgined as Lord of Appeal already in 1935...
, with Sir William Jowitt
William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt
William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...
, D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
, Frederick Tucker
Frederick Tucker, Baron Tucker
Frederick James Tucker, Baron Tucker PC was a British judge.Tucker was called to the Bar in 1914, was Recorder of Southampton in 1936-37, was Justice of High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division between 1937 to 1945...
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Elvira Barney
Well known to dislike appearing in capital cases and having a heavy workload, Hastings hesitated in 1932 when approached by Sir John Mullens, a trustee of the Stock Exchange, to defend his daughter Elvira Barney on a charge of murder. Mrs Barney, who led a dissolute life of partying and drug-taking, was accused of shooting her lover in the Knightsbridge mews house they shared; she insisted that her gun had gone off by accident in a struggle. Hastings was persuaded to take the case by his wife who remembered that their children had shared a governess who had also cared for "dear little Elvira". He appeared at the Magistrates' Court, where he cross-examined the forensic scientist Sir Bernard SpilsburyBernard Spilsbury
Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was an English pathologist. His cases include Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Seddon case and Major Armstrong poisonings, the "brides in the bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, Louis Voisin, Jean-Pierre Vaquier, the Crumbles murders, Norman Thorne, Donald Merrett, the...
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
Oswald Mosley
Hastings appeared for Sir Oswald MosleyOswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
The Star (London)
The Star was a London evening newspaper founded in 1788.The first edition was printed on 3 May 1788 under the editorship of Peter Stuart. Founding sponsors of the new paper included publisher John Murray and William Lane of the Minerva Press...
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
Work as a playwright
As well as his work as a barrister, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. His first play was The Moscow Doctor, based on a novel by Seton Merriman which he had rewritten; it ran for over a week in Brighton. He desired to have an original work performed, however, and to this end wrote The River over a period of 20 years before taking it to St James's TheatreSt James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
Owen Nares
Owen Ramsay Nares had a long stage and film career and, for most of the 1920s, was Britain's favourite matinée idol and silent film star...
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
and Godfrey Tearle
Godfrey Tearle
Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential Englishman on stage and in both English and US films.-Biography:...
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram KCVO PC was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.-Early life and career:He was born in Worcestershire, the fourth son of the Revd Edward Winnington-Ingram and of Louisa...
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
Retirement and death
Hastings retired from most of his work as a barrister in 1938, but soon found a way to occupy himself after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Although far past the age at which he could join the armed forces, Hastings wrote to the Secretary of State for WarSecretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, the Secretary of State for Air
Secretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
as a squadron leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park was a Royal Air Force station in Stanmore, Middlesex .-History:The unit was opened in 1939 and closed in 1997. In 1939 Balloon Command was established at Stanmore Park....
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
Personal life
Hastings married Mary Grundy on 1 June 1906. The couple had two sons, David and Nicholas, and three daughters. David died in the Second World War fighting in the Pacific TheatrePacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Clerihew Bentley was a British author and illustrator famous for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s...
, a cartoonist.
Further reading
Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings KCQueen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(17 March 1880 – 26 February 1952) was a British barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and politician noted for his long and highly successful career as a barrister and his short stint as Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
. He was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
until 1896, when his family moved to continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. There he learnt to shoot and ride horses, allowing him to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. After demobilisation he worked briefly as an apprentice to an engineer in Wales before moving to London to become a barrister. Hastings joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901, and after two years of saving money for the call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
he finally qualified as a barrister on 15 June 1904.
Hastings first rose to prominence as a result of the Case of the Hooded Man
Case of the Hooded Man
R v Williams 8 Cr App R 133 was a 1912 murder in England that took its name from the hood the defendant, John Williams, wore when travelling to and from court...
in 1912, and became noted for his skill at cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
s. After his success in Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools for manufacturing munitions for the First World War...
in 1917, his practice steadily grew, and in 1919 he became a King's Counsel (KC). Following various successes as a KC in cases such as Sievier v Wootton and Russell v Russell, his practice was put on hold in 1922 when he was returned as the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
. Hastings was appointed Attorney General for England and Wales
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
in 1924, by the first Labour government, and knighted. His authorisation of the prosecution of J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
in what became known as the Campbell Case
Campbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, however, led to the fall of the government after less than a year in power.
Following his resignation in 1926 to allow Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
to take a seat in Parliament, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and was even more successful than before his entry into the House of Commons. His cases included the Savidge Inquiry and the Royal Mail Case
Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
, and before his full retirement in 1948 he was one of the highest paid barristers at the English Bar. As well as his legal work, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. Although these had a mixed reception, The River was made into a silent film in 1927 named The Notorious Lady. Following strokes in 1948 and 1949, his activities became heavily restricted, and he died at home on 26 February 1952.
Early life
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
Hastings was named after the saint. His father was a solicitor with "somewhat seedy clients", and the family were repeatedly bankrupted. Despite financial difficulties ,there was enough money in the family to send Hastings to a private preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
in 1890 and to Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in 1894. Hastings disliked school, saying "I hated the bell which drove us up in the morning, I hated the masters; above all I hated the work, which never interested me in the slightest degree". He was bullied at both the preparatory school and at Charterhouse, and did not excel at either sports or his studies.
By 1896 the family had hit another period of financial trouble, and Hastings left Charterhouse to move to continental Europe with his mother and older brother Archie until there was enough money for the family to return to London. The family initially moved to Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, where they bought several old guns and taught Hastings and his brother how to shoot. After six months in Ajaccio the family moved again, this time to the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
, where they also learnt how to fish and ride horses.
While they were in the Ardennes, Hastings and his brother were arrested and briefly held for murder. While attending a fête in a nearby village Archie got into a disagreement with the local priest, who accused him of insulting the French church after misunderstanding one of his comments. The brothers returned to see the priest the next day to demand an apology, and after receiving it, they began to return home. On the way there they were stopped by two gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
who arrested them for murder, informing them that the priest had been found dead ten minutes after they left his house. As the gendarmes prepared to take the Hastings to the police station, two more officers turned up with a villager in handcuffs. It transpired that the priest had been having an affair with the villager's sister, and after waiting for the Hastings to leave he had entered the priest's house and killed him with a brick. The Hastings were quickly released.
Soon after this incident, the family moved from the Ardennes to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
after a message from their father that the financial problems had ended. When they reached Brussels they found that the situation was actually worse than previously, and the family moved between cheap hotels, each one worse than the one before. Desperate for a job, Hastings accepted the offer of an apprenticeship with an English engineer who claimed to have made a machine to extract gold in North Wales. After about a year and a half of work they discovered that there was no gold to be found in that part of Wales, and Hastings was informed that his services would no longer be needed.
Military service and call to the Bar
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
broke out, and the British government called for volunteers to join an expeditionary force. The only qualifications required were that the recruit could ride and shoot, and Hastings immediately applied to join the Suffolk Imperial Yeomanry
Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars
-History:The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1961.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The Suffolk Yeomanry was raised in as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars, they fought in the Boer war as part...
. He was accepted, and after two weeks of training the regiment were given horses and boarded the S.S. Goth Castle to South Africa. The ship reached Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
after three weeks, and the regiment disembarked. Their horses were considered too weak to be ridden, and so they were instead discharged and either put down or given to other soldiers. Hastings did not enjoy his time in the army; the weather was poor, the orders given were confusing and they were provided with minimal equipment.
Hastings was made a scout, a duty he thoroughly enjoyed; it meant that he got to the targeted farms first, and had time to steal chickens and other food before the Royal Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
arrived (as looting was a criminal offence). Hastings was not a model soldier; as well as looting, he estimated that by the time he left the army he had "been charged and tried upon almost every offence known to military law". After two years of fighting, the Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
was signed in 1902, bringing an end to the Second Boer War, and his regiment was returned to London and demobilised
Demobilization
Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
.
By the time Hastings returned, he had decided to become a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. There were various problems with this aim: in particular, he had no money, and the training for barristers was extremely expensive. Despite this, he refused to consider a change of career, and joined the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
as a student on 4 November 1901. It is uncertain why he chose this particular Inn of Court (his uncle J. Comyns Carr
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
, his only connection with the Bar, was a member of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
), but the most likely explanation was that the Middle Temple was popular with Irish barristers, and Hastings was of Irish ancestry. The examinations required to become a barrister were not particularly difficult or expensive, but once a student passed all the exams he would be expected to pay the then-enormous sum of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
100 when he was called to the Bar – £100 in 1901 would be worth approximately £ as of – and Hastings was literally penniless.
As soon as he joined the Middle Temple, Hastings began saving money for his call to the Bar, starting with half a crown from the sale of his Queen's South Africa Medal
Queen's South Africa Medal
The Queen's South Africa Medal was awarded to military personnel who served in the Boer War in South Africa between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902. Units from the British Army, Royal Navy, colonial forces who took part , civilians employed in official capacity and war correspondents...
to a pawnbroker
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
. The rules and regulations of the Inns of Court meant that a student was not allowed to work as a "tradesperson" but there was no rule against working as a journalist, and his cousin Philip Carr, a drama critic for the Daily News
Daily News (UK)
The Daily News was a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.The News was founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens, who also served as the newspaper's first editor. It was conceived as a radical rival to the right-wing Morning Chronicle. The paper was not at first a commercial success...
, got him a job writing a gossip column for the News for one pound a week. This job lasted about three months; both he and Carr were fired after Hastings wrote a piece for the paper that should have been done by Carr. Despite this, his new contacts within journalism allowed him to get temporary jobs writing play reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette
Pall Mall Gazette
The Pall Mall Gazette was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood...
and the Ladies' Field. After two years of working eighteen-hour days he had saved £60 of the £100 needed to be called to the Bar, but had still not studied for the examinations as he could not afford to buy any law books. Over the next year his income decreased, as he was forced to study for the examinations rather than work for newspapers. By the end of May 1904 he had the £100 needed, and he was called to the bar on 15 June.
Career as a barrister
Pupil master
A pupil master is an experienced barrister who takes charge of the training of a newly called barrister. Barristers are called to the Bar at an early stage in their career, after completing the Bar Vocational Course and undertaking a required number of "dinners" in their chosen Inn of Court...
or set of chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
, and in addition the barrister would be expected to pay the pupil master between 50 and 100 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
(equivalent to between £ and £ as of ). This was out of the question for Hastings; thanks to the cost of his call to the Bar
Call 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 a "call to the bar"...
, he was so poor that his wig and robes had to be bought on credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
. Instead he wandered around Middle Temple and by chance ran into Frederick Corbet, the only practising barrister he knew. After Hastings explained his situation, Corbet offered him a place in his set of chambers, which Hastings immediately accepted. Although he now had a place in chambers, Hastings had no way of getting a pupillage
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
(Corbet only dealt with Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
cases) and he instead decided to teach himself by watching cases at the Royal Courts of Justice
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...
. Hastings was lucky: the first case he saw involved Rufus Isaacs
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC , was an English lawyer, jurist and politician...
, Henry Duke
Henry Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale
Henry Edward Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale PC, QC , was a British judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1916 and 1918.-Background and education:...
and Edward Carson
Edward Carson, Baron Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
, three of the most distinguished English barristers of the early 20th century. For the next six weeks until the court vacation
Legal year
In English law, the legal year is the calendar during which the judges sit in court. The year is divided into four terms:* Michaelmas term - from October to December* Hilary term - from January to April* Easter term - from April to May, and...
, Hastings followed these three barristers from court to court "like a faithful hound".
Finding a tenancy
Tenancy (law)
A Tenancy in the English legal system is a space for a barrister in a set of chambers....
in a more prestigious set of chambers; Corbet only dealt with two or three cases a year, and solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s were unlikely to give briefs
Brief (law)
A brief is a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why the party to the case should prevail....
to a barrister of whom they had never heard. The set of chambers below Corbet's was run by Charles Gill, a well-respected barrister. Hastings would be able to improve his career through an association with Gill, but Gill did not actually know Hastings and had no reason to offer him a place in his chambers. Hastings decided he would spend the court vacation writing a law book, and introduce himself to Gill by asking if he would mind having the book dedicated to him. Hastings wrote the book on the subject of the law relating to money-lending, something he knew very little about. He got around this by including large extracts from the judgements in cases related to money-lending, which increased the size of the book and reduced how much he would actually have to write.
Hastings finished the book just before the court vacation ended, and presented the draft to Gill immediately. Gill did not offer Hastings a place in his chambers but instead gave him a copy of a brief "to see if he could make a note on it that would be any use to [Gill]". He spent hours writing notes and "did everything to the brief except set it to music", before returning it to a pleased Gill, who let him take away another brief. Over the next two years Gill allowed him to work on nearly every case he appeared in. Eventually he was noticed by solicitors, who left briefs for him rather than for Gill. By the end of his first year as a barrister, he had earned 60 guineas, and by the end of his second year he had earned £200 (equivalent to approximately £ and £ respectively as of ).
On 1 June 1906, Hastings married Mary Grundy, the daughter of retired Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
F. L. Grundy, at All Saints' Church, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. They had met through his uncle J. Comyns Carr's family, who had brought Hastings to dinner at the Grundys' house. After several meetings Hastings proposed, but the wedding was put off for a long time due to his lack of money. In January 1906, Hastings became the temporary secretary of John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, who had just become a Member of Parliament, and when he left the position Simon gave him a cheque for £50. Hastings and his finance had "never had so much money before", and on the strength of this they decided to get married. His marriage changed his outlook on life: he now realised that to provide for his wife he would need to work a lot harder at getting cases. To do that he would need to join a well-respected set of chambers; although Gill was giving him briefs he was still in Corbet's chambers, which saw little business.
Hastings approached Gill and asked him for a place in his chambers. Gill's chambers were full but he did suggest a well-respected barrister named F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, and Hastings went to see him with a letter of recommendation from Gill. Smith was out and Hastings instead spoke to his clerk
Barristers' clerk
A barristers' clerk is a manager and administrator in a set of barristers' chambers. The term originates in England, and is also used in some other common law jurisdictions, such as Australia. In Scotland, the equivalent role is advocate's clerk....
; the two did not get on, and Hastings left without securing a place. Hastings later described this as "the most fortunate moment of my whole career". Directly below Smith's chambers were those of Horace Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
, one of the most noted barristers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As he prepared to return home, Hastings was informed that Chartres Biron (one of the barristers who occupied Avory's chambers) had been appointed a Metropolitan Magistrate, which freed up a space in the chambers. He immediately went to Avory's clerk and got him to introduce Hastings to Avory. Avory initially refused to give Hastings a place in the chambers, but after Hastings lost his temper and exclaimed that "if he didn't want me to help him it would leave me more time to myself", Avory laughed and changed his mind.
His own chambers
In 1910, Horace Avory became a judge. Hastings first found out when he read the report in the morning newspapers, and was dismayed that he would again have to search for a tenancy at another chambers. He instead had the idea that he could take over Avory's chambers himself, allowing him to avoid the trouble of finding a new tenancy. Maintaining a set of chambers was very expensive, however; as well as paying the rent, the head of chambers would be expected to pay the clerks. Hastings suggested to Avory that Avory could pay the rent, and Hastings would then pay him back when he had the money. Despite Avory's reputation as "cold and hard" he agreed to this idea, and even let Hastings keep the furniture, including Avory's valuable chair which had once belonged to Harry Poland.Although this was a good start, Hastings was not a particularly well-known barrister, and cases were few and far between. To get around the lack of funds Hastings accepted a pupil
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
, and for the next year Hastings lived almost exclusively off the fees that the pupil paid him. To maintain the appearance of an active and busy chamber Hastings had his clerk borrow papers from other barristers and give them to the pupil to work on, claiming that they were cases of Hastings.
The Case of the Hooded Man
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. Sztaray was known to possess large amounts of valuable jewellery and to be married to a rich Hungarian nobleman, and assuming that the crouching man was a burglar the driver immediately called the police. Inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Arthur Walls was sent to investigate, and ordered the man to come down. The man fired two shots, the first of which struck and killed Walls.
A few days after the murder, a former medical student named Edgar Power contacted the police, showing them a letter that he claimed had been written by the murderer. It read "If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent." Power told the police that the letter had been written by a friend of his called John Williams, who he claimed had visited Sztaray's house to burgle it before killing the policeman and fleeing. Williams then met with his girlfriend Florence Seymour and explained what had happened. The two decided to bury the gun on the beach and send a letter to Williams' brother asking for money to return to London, which was then given to Powers.
Powers helped the police perform a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
, telling Seymour that the police knew what had happened and that the only way to save Williams was to dig up the gun and move it to somewhere more safe. When Seymour and Powers went to do this, several policemen (who had been lying in wait) immediately arrested her and Powers (who was released a few hours later). Seymour was in a poor condition both physically and mentally, and after a few hours she wrote and signed a statement which incriminated Williams. Powers again helped the police, convincing Williams to meet him at Moorgate station
Moorgate station
Moorgate station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground station on Moorgate in the City of London; it provides National Rail services by First Capital Connect for Hertford, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth and also serves the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan Lines and...
, where Williams was arrested by the police and charged with the murder of Arthur Walls. Williams maintained that he was innocent of the murder and burglary.
Williams' case came to trial on 12 December 1912 at Lewes Assizes
Assizes (England and Wales)
The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court...
, with Hastings for the defence. Despite a strong argument and little direct evidence against William, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. The case generated large amounts of publicity, as well as an appeal hearing at which Hastings demonstrated his legal skills. The case established him as an excellent barrister, particularly when it came to cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. He was commended by both the initial judge, Arthur Channell, and the presiding judge hearing the appeal, Lord Alverstone
Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone
Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, GCMG, QC was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices.-Background and education:...
, for his skill in his defence of Williams. The advertisement this case gave of his skills allowed him to move some of his practice from the county court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
s to the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, where his work slowly increased in value and size.
The case made his name well-known and helped bring him work, but he still mainly worked on cases in the county courts. These did not pay particularly well, and to get around this lack of money his clerk had him take on six new pupils at once. The short length of county court cases and the number of cases Hastings got meant that he dealt with up to six cases in a single day, running from court to court with his pupils in a "Mafeking
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
procession" which he later described as "the forerunners of the modern Panzer division
Panzer Division
A panzer division was an armored division in the army and air force branches of the Wehrmacht as well as the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II....
".
First World War
Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Hastings and his family were preparing to travel to Germany for a holiday. On the day of departure he received a note from a client, which read "You tell me you are going to Germany. Don't go, we shall be at war within forty-eight hours". Hastings heeded this warning, and remained in England – war was declared between Britain and Germany less than two days later. Hastings himself volunteered to serve in the armed forces, but was rejected as medically unfit.Gruban v Booth
His next noted civil case was that of Gruban v Booth. John Gruban was a German-born businessman, originally named Johann Wilhelm Gruban, who had come to England in 1893 to work for an engineering company, Haigh and Company. By 1913 he had turned the business from an almost-bankrupt company to a successful manufacturer of machine tools, and at the outbreak of the First World War it was one of the first companies to produce machine tools used to make munitions. This made Gruban a major player in a now-large market, and he attempted to raise £5,000 to expand his business (equivalent to approximately £ as of ). On independent advice, he contacted Frederick Handel BoothFrederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth was a British politician, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1910 to 1918.He was born near Manchester in 1867, and attended the high school in Bolton le Moor....
, a noted Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament who was chairman of the Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company and had led the government inquiry into the Marconi scandal
Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912. It centred on allegations that highly-placed members of the Liberal government, under H. H...
. When Gruban contacted Booth, Booth told him that he could do "more for [your] company than any man in England", claiming that David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
(at the time Minister of Munitions
Minister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort...
) and many other important government officials were close friends. With £3,500 borrowed from his brother-in-law, Booth immediately invested in Gruban's company.
Booth worked his way into the company with a string of false claims about his influence, and finally became chairman of the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
by claiming that it was the only way to avoid Gruban being interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
due to his German origin. As soon as this happened, he cut Gruban out of the company, leaving him destitute, and eventually arranged for him to be interned. Gruban successfully appealed against the internment, and brought Booth to court.
The case of Gruban v Booth opened on 7 May 1917 in the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in front of Mr Justice Coleridge
Bernard Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge
Bernard John Seymour Coleridge, 2nd Baron Coleridge QC was a British lawyer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1894 when he inherited his peerage....
. Patrick Hastings and Hubert Wallington represented Gruban, while Booth was represented by Rigby Swift
Rigby Swift
Sir Rigby Philip Watson Swift KC was a British barrister, Member of Parliament and judge. Born into a family of solicitors and barristers, Swift was educated at Parkfield School before taking up a place in his father's chambers and at the same time studying for his LLB at the University of London...
KC and Douglas Hogg
Douglas Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham
Douglas McGarel Hogg, 1st Viscount Hailsham PC was a British lawyer and Conservative politician.-Background:...
. The trial attracted such public interest that on the final day the barristers found it physically difficult to get through the crowds surrounding the Law Courts. While both Rigby Smith and Douglas Hogg were highly respected barristers, Booth's cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
by Hastings was so skilfully done that the jury took only ten minutes to find that he had been fraudulent; they awarded Gruban £4,750 (about £ as of ).
King's Counsel
His success in Gruban v Booth allowed Hastings to switch his practice from the county courts to the High Court, and at the beginning of Hilary termHilary term
Hilary Term is the second academic term of Oxford University's academic year. It runs from January to March and is so named because the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, 14 January, falls during this term...
1919 he applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). Becoming a KC was a risk; he would go from competing with other junior barristers to coming up against the finest minds in the profession. Despite this he decided to take the risk, and he was accepted later that year.
Select Committee of the House of Lords
His first major case as a King's Counsel was representing a Colonel Bersey at the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air ForceSelect Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force was a Select Committee of the House of Lords created to investigate a complaint by Violet Douglas-Pennant that she had been fired in an attempt by several senior Women's Royal Air Force officers to cover up "rife immorality"...
. Bersey was a senior officer of the Women's Royal Air Force
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
(WRAF), and along with several other officers he had been accused of conspiring to have the WRAF Commandant, Violet Douglas-Pennant
Violet Douglas-Pennant
Commandant Violet Blanche Douglas-Pennant was a British philanthropist and supporter of local government who served as the first commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force until her dismissal in August 1918....
, removed from office to cover up "rife immorality" going on at WRAF camps. Lord Stanhope
James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope
James Richard Stanhope, 13th Earl of Chesterfield and 7th Earl Stanhope KG, DSO, MC, PC , styled Viscount Mahon until 1905, and known as The Earl Stanhope from 1905 until 1967, was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Stanhope was the eldest son of Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, and...
formed a House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
Select Committee to investigate these claims, and it began sitting on 14 October 1918.
Hastings took the lead in cross-examining Douglas-Pennant. She accused Bersey and others of promoting this "rife immorality" and not having the best interests of the WRAF
Women's Royal Air Force
The Women's Royal Air Force was a women's branch of the Royal Air Force which existed in two separate incarnations.The first WRAF was an auxiliary organization of the Royal Air Force which was founded in 1918. The original intent of the WRAF was to provide female mechanics in order to free up men...
at heart. When cross examined, however, she was unable to provide any evidence of this "rife immorality" or any kind of a conspiracy, saying that she could not find any specific instance of "immorality" at the camps she visited and that it was "always rumour". After three weeks the committee dismissed all witnesses. The final report was produced in December 1919, and found that Douglas-Pennant had been completely unable to substantiate her claims and was deserving "of the gravest censure". As a result Douglas-Pennant was never again employed by the government.
Libel and divorce
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
, Wootton held a grudge against Sievier for many years.
As revenge, Wootton wrote a pamphlet titled Incidents in the Public Life of Robert Standish Sievier in which he claimed that Sievier had been expelled from the Victoria Racing Club
Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup, which was first contested in 1861.From its...
, twice been declared bankrupt, cheated a man of £600 in a game of billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
and blackmailed another for £5,000. The pamphlet was released on the day of the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
and distributed widely through the crowds, and in response Sievier sued Wootton for libel. Sievier appeared without a lawyer, while Wotton was represented by Sir Edward Carson KC, Hastings, and E. H. Spence. After the second day of the trial, Carson was called away to Ireland on political business, and Hastings was forced to act as the primary counsel for Wootton. Hastings destroyed Sievier's reputation in cross-examination, and the jury decided in Wootton's favour.
In 1922, he became involved in Russell v Russell, which eventually went to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who set a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
rule that evidence about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of children born in marriage is inadmissible if it is given by either spouse. Mr Russell, later Lord Ampthill
John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill
Captain John Hugo Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill CBE was a British peer who served in the Royal Navy in both the First and Second World Wars.He was the son of Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill...
, married Mrs Russell in 1918, with both spouses agreeing that they did not want to have children. In October 1921 Mrs Russell gave birth to a son, Geoffrey Russell
Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill
Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, CBE, PC was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were famously disputed in the "Ampthill Baby Case"....
, and Mr Russell immediately filed for divorce and to have the child declared a bastard. He claimed that the child could not be his because he had not had sexual intercourse with his wife since August 1920.
Hastings represented Mrs Russell in the initial trial at the High Court and lost; the decision was appealed to the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
, where he again lost. The case was then sent to the House of Lords
Judicial functions of the House of Lords
The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, historically also had a judicial function. It functioned as a court of first instance for the trials of peers, for impeachment cases, and as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. In the latter case the House's...
, who by a majority of three to two (with Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
giving the leading judgment) overturned the previous judgments and said that Mr Russell's evidence as to the legitimacy of his son was inadmissible. Hastings did not represent Mrs Russell in the House of Lords case, however, because by this point he was already Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
.
Politics
Hastings first became involved in politics after the First World War, when he joined the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
to help improve social conditions for the poorer people of the United Kingdom. He was being prepared to be the Liberal candidate for Ilford
Ilford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ilford was a borough constituency in what is now the London Borough of Redbridge in east London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
but grew disheartened by the Liberal alliance with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, and also by the divisions in the party; as a result, he gave up the candidacy.
Hastings eventually switched sides and joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. His conversion, especially in the light of later events, was regarded by some as suspect: his entry in the Dictionary of Labour Biography reports speculation that Hastings foresaw that Labour may come to Government and had few senior lawyers to fill the Law Officer
Law Officers of the Crown
The Law Officers of the Crown are the chief legal advisers to the Crown, and advise and represent the various governments in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms. In England and Wales, Northern Ireland and most Commonwealth and colonial governments, the chief law officer of the...
posts. John Paton
John Paton (UK politician)
John Paton was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1964.He was elected at the 1945 general election as MP for the two-seat Norwich constituency...
, after speaking from the same Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
(ILP) platform as Hastings, came to the conclusion that Hastings gave political speeches using his skill as a lawyer to master a brief; on the train home, Hastings appeared not to have heard of the ILP.
After an interview with Sidney and Beatrice Webb
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Lady Passfield was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield...
he became the Labour candidate for Wallsend
Wallsend (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallsend was a parliamentary constituency centred on Wallsend, a town on the north bank of the River Tyne in North Tyneside.It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1997 general election.It was...
in December 1920. Beatrice Webb was later to write in her diaries that Hastings was "without any sincerely held public purpose" and "an unpleasant type of clever pleader and political arriviste, who jumped into the Labour Party just before the 1922 election, when it had become clear that the Labour Party was the alternative government and it had not a single lawyer of position attached to it". However Hastings was returned for Wallsend with a majority of 2,823 in the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
.
After returning to London from Wallsend, he attended a full meeting of Labour MPs to decide who would become the Party Chairman. This effectively meant choosing the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, because Labour was the largest opposition party in the House of Commons. The two candidates were Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
and J. R. Clynes, and Hastings, who supported MacDonald, persuaded six new MPs to support him. MacDonald was elected by a margin of only five votes, and Hastings later regretted his support.
Hastings was indeed Labour's only experienced barrister in the House of Commons at that time, and immediately became a frontbencher
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
and the party's main spokesman on legal matters. He made his debut speech on 22 February 1923 against the Rent Restrictions Bill, an amendment to the Rent Act 1921. He attacked it as "a monstrous piece of legislation", and was repeatedly shouted down by Conservative MPs as a "traitor to his class". As a result of this and the slow workings of Parliament, Hastings quickly became frustrated by politics.
Internment orders
Following the Irish War of IndependenceIrish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
was set up as an independent British Dominion covering most of the island of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. After a brief civil war
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
between the pro-Free State forces and members of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...
(IRA) who wanted any independent nation to cover the entire island, the status of the Irish Free State was confirmed, and the IRA was forced underground. The IRA had supporters in the United Kingdom, working openly as the Irish Self-Determination League
Irish Self-Determination League
The Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain was established in London in 1919. Membership peaked at around 20,000 in and was confined to those of Irish birth or descent resident in Great Britain....
(ISDL), and the Free State government shared the names of these supporters with the British authorities, who kept a close eye on them. Between February and March the Free State government provided information on individuals that they said were part of widespread plots against the Irish Free State being prepared on British soil. On 11 March 1923 the police in Britain arrested IRA sympathisers living in Britain including Art O'Brien, the head of the ISDL. Sources disagree on numbers, giving either approximately eighty or approximately 100. The arrested men were placed on special trains and sent to Liverpool, where they were transferred to Dublin via a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
destroyer. It later transpired that not only were many British citizens (Art O'Brien himself had been born in England), at least six had never even been to Ireland before.
The next day the arrests were publicly queried in the House of Commons, and a Labour backbencher Jack Jones started a debate on the subject in the afternoon. W. C. Bridgeman, the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, said that he had directly ordered the police to arrest the ISDL members under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
The Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 9 August 1920 to address the collapse of the British civilian administration in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence....
, and that he had consulted the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
who considered it perfectly legal. Hastings immediately stood and protested, saying that the Act was "one of the most dreadful things that has been done in the history of our country" and that the internments and deportations were effectively illegal.
A few days later, the solicitors for O'Brien got in contact with Hastings. On 23 March 1923 he appeared in R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien
R v Secretary of State for Home Affairs ex parte O'Brien [1923] 2 KB 361 was a 1923 test case in English law that sought to have the internment and deportation of Irish nationalist sympathisers earlier that year declared legally invalid...
[1923] 2 KB 361 at a Divisional Court
Divisional Court
A Divisional Court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges. Matters heard by a Divisional Court include some criminal cases in the High Court as well as certain judicial review cases...
consisting of Mr Justice Avory
Horace Avory
Sir Horace Edmund Avory was an English criminal lawyer, jurist and Privy Counsellor.-Biography:He was the son of Henry Avory, clerk of the Central Criminal Court. He was educated at King's College London, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was captain of boats and took the degree of...
and Mr Justice Salter to apply for a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
for O'Brien as a test case to allow the release of the others. The initial hearing was ineffective because Hastings was unable to provide an affidavit from O'Brien, which was required for a writ of habeas corpus to be considered, but by the time the hearing was resumed on 10 April he had managed to obtain one. Hastings argued that because the Irish Free State was an independent nation the British laws governing it, such as the 1920 Act, were effectively repealed.
The court eventually declared that they could not issue a writ, because the Habeas Corpus Act 1862
Habeas Corpus Act 1862
The Habeas Corpus Act 1862 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that limited the right of the English courts to issue writs of habeas corpus in British colonies or dominions...
prevented them from issuing a writ to any colony possessing a court which could also issue a writ. Since Ireland possessed such a court, the English Divisional Court could not act. Hastings attempted to argue that the writ could be issued against the Home Secretary but this also failed, since the Home Secretary did not actually possess O'Brien. Three days later, Hastings took the case to the Court of Appeal, who declared that the internment orders were invalid since the Restoration of Order Act was no longer applicable. The Government was forced to introduce a Bill to Parliament giving itself retrospective immunity for having exceeded its authority, and the whole incident was a political and legal triumph for the party and for Hastings personally.
Attorney-General
When the new Parliament opened in 1923, the Prime Minister Stanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
suggested that tariff reform was the best way to solve Britain's economic difficulties. Unfortunately Bonar Law, his predecessor, had promised that there would be no tariff reforms introduced during the current Parliament. Baldwin felt that the only solution was for the government to resign, which they did, and to call a new general election. In the ensuing election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
Baldwin's Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
lost 88 seats, with the Labour Party gaining 47 and the Liberal Party gaining 41. This produced a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
, and Labour and the Liberals formed a coalition government with Labour as the main party. Hastings himself was re-elected without difficulty, increasing his majority.
With Ramsay Macdonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
as the new Prime Minister in the first Labour government, Hastings was appointed Attorney-General for England and Wales. This was not surprising - Labour had only two KCs in Parliament, and the other (Edward Hemmerde
Edward Hemmerde
Edward George Hemmerde, KC was an English rower, barrister and politician.-Education, the Law and family:Hemmerde was born at Peckham, south London, the son of James Godfey Hemmerde and his wife Frances Hope. His father was a bank manager and was with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. Hemmerde was...
) was "unsuitable for personal reasons". Hastings hesitated before accepting the appointment, despite the knighthood and appointment as head of the Bar that came with the post, and later said that "if I had known what the next year was to bring forward I should almost certainly have [declined]".
Hastings described his time as Attorney General as "my idea of hell" - he was the only Law Officer available, since the Solicitor General was not a Member of Parliament, and as a result had to answer all queries about points of law in Parliament. In addition, he had his normal duties of dealing with the legal problems of government departments, and said that the day was "one long rush between the law courts, government departments and the House of Commons". His working hours were regularly between 7am and 5am the following morning, and the policemen on duty at the House of Commons complained to him that he was working too long, since they were required to stay on duty as long as he was.
Campbell Case
In 1924 Hastings became involved in the Campbell CaseCampbell Case
The Campbell Case of 1924 involved charges against a British Communist newspaper editor for alleged "incitement to mutiny" caused by his publication of a provocative open letter to members of the military...
, a prosecution which eventually led to the downfall of the Labour government. On 30 June 1924, he was met by Archibald Bodkin
Archibald Bodkin
Sir Archibald Henry Bodkin KCB was an English lawyer and the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1920 to 1930. He particularly took a stand against the publication of what he saw as 'obscene' literature.-Early years:...
, the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
, who brought with him a copy of the communist newspaper Workers' Weekly. The newspaper contained an article which urged members of the military to refuse to shoot their "fellow workers" in a time of war. Hastings approved the prosecution of the newspaper's editor, J. R. Campbell
John Ross Campbell
John Ross "Johnny" Campbell , best known as "J.R. Campbell," was a British communist activist and newspaper editor. Campbell is best remembered as the principal in the so-called Campbell Case...
, for violating the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797
The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny....
.
John Scurr
John Scurr , born John Rennie, was an English Labour Party politician and trade union official who served as Member of Parliament for Mile End from 1923 to 1931....
, a Labour backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
, asked the Home Secretary why Campbell had been detained and on whose orders. Hastings himself read out a reply, which said that the Director of Public Prosecutions had complained that the article was inciting troops to mutiny. Another Labour backbencher, Jimmy Maxton
James Maxton
James Maxton was a Scottish socialist politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era.-Early years:...
, rose and asked the Prime Minister "if he has read the article, and if he is aware that the article contains mainly a call to the troops not to allow themselves to be used in industrial disputes, and that that point of view is shared by a large number of Members sitting on these benches?" This statement lead to uproar, and the Speaker was forced to intervene and halt further discussions.
The next day Hastings called for both the Solicitor General, Sir Henry Slesser
Henry Slesser
Sir Henry Herman Slesser, KC was a barrister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, and later a senior judge....
, and Jimmy Maxton, to ask their opinion on the prosecution. Maxton knew Campbell, and revealed that he was only the temporary editor and had not written the article – the article had actually been copied from another newspaper. Along with Guy Stevenson, the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Hastings then visited Ramsay MacDonald to explain the facts of the case. MacDonald blamed the Director of Public Prosecutions for starting the case, although Hastings intervened and admitted to Macdonald that it was entirely his fault. The Prime Minister said that he felt they should go through with the case now they had started, but Hastings suggested that a member of the Treasury Counsel appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court and withdraw the prosecution. MacDonald agreed, and the next morning Travers Humphreys
Travers Humphreys
The Rt. Hon. Sir Travers Humphreys PC was a noted British barrister and judge who, during a sixty year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde, Hawley Harvey Crippen, George Joseph Smith, the 'Brides in the Bath' murderer, and John George Haigh, the 'Acid Bath Murderer'.-Legal...
appeared for the Crown at the Magistrates Court and had Campbell discharged.
The reaction of the public and the press was that the case had been thrown out because of direct pressure from the government, and that this had happened behind closed doors. MacDonald was "furious", and the opinion of the Liberal and Conservative parties was that the government was attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 30 September Sir Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, a Conservative MP, asked the Prime Minister in Parliament whether he had instructed the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw the case. MacDonald replied that "I was not consulted regarding either the institution or the subsequent withdrawal of these proceedings".
A Parliamentary debate and motion to censure the Labour government on this was set for 8 October, but before this MacDonald called Hastings into his office and suggested a way to solve the problem. Hastings would accept all the blame and resign as Attorney General, and in exchange MacDonald and the rest of the cabinet would speak for Hastings at the resulting by-election. Hastings refused the general suggestion, but planned to make a speech at the upcoming debate explaining his actions.
Immediately after the debate began the Prime Minister rose to speak, and said that he "sought to correct the impression [I] gave" that he knew nothing about the prosecution. This was followed by a motion of censure pushed forward by Robert Horne
Robert Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan
Robert Stevenson Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan GBE, PC, KC was a Scottish businessman, advocate and Unionist politician. He served under David Lloyd George as Minister of Labour between 1919 and 1920, as President of the Board of Trade between 1920 and 1921 and as Chancellor of the...
, and after Horne had presented the motion Hastings rose to speak, and explained the facts of the case. His speech took over an hour, and was frequently interrupted by Conservative MPs. In his speech, Hastings took full responsibility for both the decision to prosecute and the subsequent decision to withdraw the prosecution, asking whether a censure was merited for correcting a mistake. His speech quieted the Conservatives and made it clear that a censure for the entire Parliament was going to be difficult for the Whips to enforce. The Liberal spokesman John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
stood to speak, however, and called for the appointment of a Select Committee to investigate the case. This was rejected by MacDonald, and MPs continued to speak for several more hours.
The Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
privately wrote to MacDonald offering to withdraw the motion of censure in exchange for the government's support for the appointment of a Select Committee. MacDonald consulted with Jimmy Thomas
James Henry Thomas
James Henry "Jimmy" Thomas was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.-Early career and Trade Union activities:...
and Hastings (whose reply was simply "go to hell") and decided to reject the offer. Although the motion of censure failed, the motion to appoint a Select Committee passed the House over the opposition of the government, and the Labour government was forced out of office. Hastings was embittered by the disaster, and considered immediately quitting politics altogether, although he did not do so. His plight was depicted on the cover of Time Magazine, along with a quotation ("What have I done wrong?") from his speech.
Remaining time in politics
Hastings was again returned for Wallsend at the ensuing election, despite the crisis caused by the Zinoviev LetterZinoviev Letter
The "Zinoviev Letter" refers to a controversial document published by the British press in 1924, allegedly sent from the Communist International in Moscow to the Communist Party of Great Britain...
, although with a reduced majority. Although Hastings remained on the Labour frontbench he never spoke in the House of Commons again, and attended less and less frequently. After suffering from kidney problems during 1925, he left Parliament (by accepting the nominal position of Steward of the Manor of Northstead
Manor of Northstead
The Manor of Northstead was once a collection of fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire in England. By 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd. At present the Manor is part of the Barrowcliff area of the town of...
(a legal fiction office with the same effect as, but less well known than, the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
) on 29 June 1926; this enabled Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Bondfield
Margaret Grace Bondfield was an English Labour politician and feminist, the first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom and one of the first three female Labour MPs...
, who had lost her seat in the previous election, to return to Parliament in his place at the ensuing by-election. He never returned to politics.
Return to the Bar
After leaving politics, Hastings returned to his work as a barrister, and eventually surpassed even his previous reputation and success as an advocate. His first major case after returning was representing F. A. Mitchell-HedgesF. A. Mitchell-Hedges
Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges was an English adventurer, traveller, and writer. His name was almost always seen in print as F. A. Mitchell-Hedges; he sometimes went by the name "Mike Hedges". Mitchell-Hedges had a talent for telling colourful stories...
, a noted professional explorer, in his libel action against London Express Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
. The Daily Express had published two articles saying that he was a liar, and had planned out a bogus robbery to advertise a device known as the Monomark. The case opened on 9 February 1928 in front of Lord Hewart, with Hastings and Norman Birkett representing Mitchell-Hedges and William Jowitt and J.B. Melville representing London Express Newspapers. Despite the skills of both Hastings and Birkett, who later became a much-lauded barrister in his own right, Mitchell-Hedges lost his case and had his reputation destroyed as a result.
Savidge Inquiry
Leo Chiozza Money
Sir Leo George Chiozza Money , born Leone Giorgio Chiozza, was an Italian-born economic theorist who moved to Britain in the 1890s, where he made his name as a politician, journalist and author. In the early years of the 20th century his views attracted the interest of two future Prime Ministers,...
was a noted journalist, economist and former Liberal MP. On 23 April 1928, he and Miss Irene Savidge were sitting in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
in London when they were arrested by two plain-clothes police officers and taken to the nearest police station, where they were charged under the Parks Regulation Act 1872 with committing an indecent offence. The next morning, they were remanded for a week at Great Marlborough Street Police Court. At the next hearing a week later, the case was dismissed by the magistrate, who criticised the police for failing to contact a man seen running through the park to establish some kind of corroborative evidence, and failing to report at once to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
to avoid having to charge the defendants immediately.
After his release, Money immediately spoke to his official contacts, and the next morning the matter was raised in the House of Commons. It was suggested that the police evidence was perjured
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, and as a result the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford
William Joynson-Hicks, 1st Viscount Brentford PC, PC , DL , known as Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt, from 1919 to 1929 and popularly known as Jix, was an English solicitor and Conservative Party politician, best known as a long-serving and controversial Home Secretary from 1924 to 1929, during which...
instructed Sir Archibald Bodkin, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate the possibility of perjury. Bodkin had the Metropolitan Police Commissioner appoint Chief Inspector Collins, one of his most experienced CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
officers, to investigate the claims and interview Savidge.
The next day, two police officers (Inspector Collins and Sergeant Clarke) and one policewoman (Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles
Lilian Wyles , the daughter of a brewer in Bourne, Lincolnshire, became a pioneer in the establishment of women as officers in the Metropolitan Police.-External links:*....
) called at Savidge's workplace and took her to Scotland Yard, where she was questioned. The events of that day were brought up two days later in the House of Commons, where it was alleged that Savidge had been given a "third degree" interview by Collins lasting for five hours. A public outcry followed, and the Home Secretary appointed a tribunal to investigate.
The tribunal (led by Sir John Eldon Bankes, a former Lord Justice of Appeal
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...
) began sitting on 15 May 1928; Hastings, Henry Curtis-Bennett
Henry Curtis-Bennett
Sir Henry Honywood Curtis-Bennett was an English barrister and Member of Parliament....
and Walter Frampton represented Savidge, and Norman Birkett represented the police. When called as a witness, Savidge testified that she had not wanted to go to Scotland Yard and had been persuaded to do so by the presence of a female police officer, Miss Wyles. After they arrived at Scotland Yard, Collins told Wyles that he was going to send Savidge home, and Wyles could leave. After Wyles had left, Collins began interviewing Savidge, threatening that she and Money would "suffer severely" if she did not tell the truth. Savidge said that Collins' manner had become more and more familiar during the interview, and that at several points he and Sergeant Clarke had implied that they wanted her to have sexual intercourse with them. Savidge spent almost six hours in the witness box, and her testimony left Collins looking guilty in the eyes of the tribunal. Collins, Clarke and Wyles were all interviewed, along with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Archibald Bodkin himself.
The final report of the tribunal was released on 13 June 1928 and consisted of both a majority report and a minority one, since not all of the tribunal members agreed on the validity of Savidge's evidence. The majority report said that Savidge was not intimidated into answering questions, nor treated inappropriately, and that "we are unable therefore to accept Miss Savidge's statement. We are satisfied that the interrogation followed the lines indicated to [Collins] by the Director of Public Prosecutions and was not unduly extended". The minority report blamed the police, particularly Collins, for the method in which Savidge was interviewed. The inquiry resulted in three changes to police procedure, however: firstly, that anyone interrogated should be told beforehand about the possible consequences and purpose of the statement; secondly, that the statement should normally be taken at home; and thirdly, that in cases "involving matters intimately affecting [a woman's] morals" another woman should always be present for any interviews.
United Diamond Fields v Joel
Hastings was next involved in United Diamond Fields of British Guiana Ltd v Joel and Others, which he considered both his most difficult and most interesting case. Following the discovery of the diamond mines in South Africa, men such as Solly Joel had established a diamond syndicate to restrict the amount of diamonds on the market. For this to work, they had to control the entire output of diamonds in the world, which they planned to do by acquiring interests in all of the diamond mines. In 1925, British GuianaBritish Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
began producing enough diamonds to attract the attention of the syndicate, and in November 1925 a Mr Oppenheimer, representing the syndicate, entered into a contract with Mr Perez, the operator of the Guiana mines, to have 12000 carats (2.4 kg) worth of diamonds provided to the syndicate over a twelve month period.
A few months later, United Diamond Fields of British Guiana was incorporated as a limited company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
. The company used Oppenheimer as a technical adviser, and immediately arranged to have its diamonds sold to the syndicate. The price was to be fixed for six months, with an auditor's certificate at the end of that time used to negotiate a new price. Oppenheimer was the only one with access to the accounting information, and the rest of the company had no way of checking that his figures were correct. In the same time frame, a new deposit of diamonds was discovered in South Africa, forcing the syndicate to acquire several million pounds worth of these new diamonds to prevent their control over the market being destroyed. This strained their finances and the new diamonds forced the price down.
To correct this, the syndicate were forced to reduce the flow of diamonds from British Guiana, which they did by getting Oppenheimer to reduce the price of Guianan diamonds to the point where the company output dropped from 2000 carat (0.4 kg) a month to less than 300 carat (0.06 kg) per month. Oppenheimer then claimed that the profits were only five percent, forcing the company to reduce the price yet again. As a result of this the company was forced into liquidation in September 1927.
A company board member, Victor Coen, was convinced that the company had been treated wrongly and insisted in bringing it before the courts. In May 1929, he convinced the rest of the board to issue a writ against the syndicate and Oppenheimer, alleging fraudulent conspiracy, and began instructing Hastings. Hastings worried that the case would become unmanageable, with the syndicate relying on over 4,000 documents for their defence, but luckily found a certificate showing that the company profits, rather than the five percent Oppenheimer had reported, were in fact seventeen percent.
The trial began before Mr Justice McCardie
Henry McCardie
Sir Henry Alfred McCardie was a controversial British judge. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham he left school at 16 and spent several years working for an auctioneer before qualifying as a barrister and being called to the Bar in 1894...
on 4 March 1930, with Hastings for the company, and Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
and Norman Birkett for the syndicate. The first witness called was Coen himself, who Hastings later described as "the best witness without exception that I have ever seen in the witness-box". He was interviewed over seven days by Hastings, then Bevan and then Birkett. Eight days into the trial the matter of the certificate came up, and Oppenheimer was unable to provide an explanation. As a result the jury found against the syndicate - they were ordered to pay back all of the company's costs, and all of its losses.
Royal Mail Case
In 1931, Hastings represented John Morland in the Royal Mail CaseRoyal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or R v Kylsant & Otrs was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by Scot James Macqueen. After good and bad times it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the White Star Line....
, Lord Kylsant
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant was a British businessman and politician, later jailed for producing a document with intent to deceive.-Background:...
, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant, John Morland, to make it look as if the company was profitable and to entice potential investors. At the same time, he had been falsifying accounting records by drawing money from the reserves and having it appear on the records as profit. Following an independent audit instigated by the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
, Kylsant and John Morland, the company auditor, were arrested and charged with falsifying both the trading prospectus and the company records and accounts.
The trial began at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
on 20 July 1931 before Mr Justice Wright
Robert Wright, Baron Wright
Robert Alderson Wright, Baron Wright, GCMG, PC was a British judge.On 11 April 1932, he was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created additionally a life peer with the title Baron Wright, of Durley in the County of Wiltshire, however resgined as Lord of Appeal already in 1935...
, with Sir William Jowitt
William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt
William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt PC, KC , was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.-Background and education:...
, D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
and Eustace Fulton for the prosecution, Sir John Simon
John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon GCSI GCVO OBE PC was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second. He is one of only three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer,...
, J. E. Singleton and Wilfred Lewis for Lord Kylsant, and Hastings, Stuart Bevan
Stuart Bevan
Stuart James Bevan was a British barrister and Conservative politician.Bevan was educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1895, and took silk in 1919. He was made a Bencher of his Inn, and in 1932 became Recorder for Bristol...
, Frederick Tucker
Frederick Tucker, Baron Tucker
Frederick James Tucker, Baron Tucker PC was a British judge.Tucker was called to the Bar in 1914, was Recorder of Southampton in 1936-37, was Justice of High Court of Justice, King's Bench Division between 1937 to 1945...
and C. J. Conway for John Morland. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
The main defence on the use of secret reserve accounting came with the help of Lord Plender. Plender was one of the most important and reliable accountants in Britain, and under cross-examination stated that it was routine for firms "of the very highest repute" to use secret reserves in calculating profit without declaring it. Hastings said that "if my client ... was guilty of a criminal offence, there is not a single accountant in the City of London or in the world who is not in the same position." Both Kylsant and Morland were acquitted of falsifying records on this account, but Kylsant was found guilty of "making, circulating or publishing a written statement which he knew to be false", namely the 1928 prospectus, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Elvira Barney
Well known to dislike appearing in capital cases and having a heavy workload, Hastings hesitated in 1932 when approached by Sir John Mullens, a trustee of the Stock Exchange, to defend his daughter Elvira Barney on a charge of murder. Mrs Barney, who led a dissolute life of partying and drug-taking, was accused of shooting her lover in the Knightsbridge mews house they shared; she insisted that her gun had gone off by accident in a struggle. Hastings was persuaded to take the case by his wife who remembered that their children had shared a governess who had also cared for "dear little Elvira". He appeared at the Magistrates' Court, where he cross-examined the forensic scientist Sir Bernard SpilsburyBernard Spilsbury
Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was an English pathologist. His cases include Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Seddon case and Major Armstrong poisonings, the "brides in the bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, Louis Voisin, Jean-Pierre Vaquier, the Crumbles murders, Norman Thorne, Donald Merrett, the...
, and at a three day trial in the Old Bailey where Hastings was described by Peter Cotes in his book about the case as "the star performer".
At the Old Bailey one of the principal crown witnesses was firearms expert Robert Churchill, who testified that the trigger of Mrs Barney's gun had a strong pull. When Hastings rose to cross-examine, he took up the gun, pointed it to the ceiling and repeatedly pulled the trigger over and over again. One crown witness had said that on another occasion she saw Elvira Barney firing the gun while holding it in her left hand; when he called his client Hastings had the gun placed in front of her. After a pause he shouted at her to pick up the gun and she spontaneously picked it up in her right hand. The Judge (Mr Justice Humphreys) described Hastings' final address as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard at the Bar" and Elvira Barney was found not guilty both of murder and manslaughter.
Oswald Mosley
Hastings appeared for Sir Oswald MosleyOswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
in several cases during the 1930s, having become friends with him while in Parliament. The first was a libel case against The Star
The Star (London)
The Star was a London evening newspaper founded in 1788.The first edition was printed on 3 May 1788 under the editorship of Peter Stuart. Founding sponsors of the new paper included publisher John Murray and William Lane of the Minerva Press...
, who had written a comment on one of Mosley's speeches implying that he advocated an armed revolution to overthrow the British government. The case opened at the Royal Courts of Justice on 5 November 1934 in front of Lord Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
, with Hastings representing Mosley, and Norman Birkett The Star. Birkett argued that The Star article was nothing more than a summary of Mosley's speech, and that any comments implying the overthrow of the British government were found in the speech itself. Hastings countered that The Star was effectively accusing Mosley of high treason, and said that "there is really no defence to this action...I do ask for such damages as will mark [the jury's] sense of the injustice which has been done to Sir Oswald". The jury eventually decided that The Star had libelled Mosley, and awarded him £5,000 in damages (approximately £ as of ).
Several weeks later, Hastings represented Mosley and three other members of the British Union of Fascists
British Union of Fascists
The British Union was a political party in the United Kingdom formed in 1932 by Sir Oswald Mosley as the British Union of Fascists, in 1936 it changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists and then in 1937 to simply the British Union...
(BUF) in a criminal case after they were indicted for "causing a riotous assembly
Riot Act
The Riot Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that authorised local authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled, and thus have to disperse or face punitive action...
" on 9 October 1934 at a BUF meeting. The trial opened at the Sussex Assizes on 18 December 1934 in front of Mr Justice Branson, with Hastings for the defence and John Flowers KC prosecuting. According to Mosley, Hastings told him that Flowers, a former cricketer, had a poor reputation at the bar, and that Mosley should not show him up too much. The prosecution claimed that after a BUF meeting, Mosley and the other defendants had marched around Worthing, threatening and assaulting civilians. Hastings argued that the defendants had been deliberately provoked by a crowd of civilians, and several witnesses testified that the crowd had been throwing tomatoes and threatening Mosley. The judge eventually directed the jury to return a verdict of "not guilty". Hastings and Mosley were less successful in another libel action, against the Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
who had accused him of instructing his blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
to arm themselves. The defence, led by D. N. Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt
Denis Nowell Pritt , usually known as D.N. Pritt, was a British barrister and Labour Party politician. Born in Harlesden, Middlesex, he was educated at Winchester College and London University....
KC, called several witnesses to a fight in Manchester between blackshirts and their opponents. Hastings, taking the view that the incident was too long in the past to be relevant, did not call any rebutting evidence. Although Mosley won the case, he was awarded only a farthing in damages, traditionally a way for the jury to indicate that the case should not have been brought.
Work as a playwright
As well as his work as a barrister, Hastings also tried his hand at writing plays. His first play was The Moscow Doctor, based on a novel by Seton Merriman which he had rewritten; it ran for over a week in Brighton. He desired to have an original work performed, however, and to this end wrote The River over a period of 20 years before taking it to St James's TheatreSt James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
, where it was accepted and performed in June 1925. The play starred Owen Nares
Owen Nares
Owen Ramsay Nares had a long stage and film career and, for most of the 1920s, was Britain's favourite matinée idol and silent film star...
and initially went well, but foundered in the second act due to the plot requiring the most popular actors to be taken off stage - the character played by Nares, for example, broke his leg. Reviews compared the plot to something out of the Boy's Own Paper
Boy's Own Paper
The Boy's Own Paper was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967.-Publishing history:The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society as a means to encourage younger children to read and also instil Christian morals...
. The play lasted only a month before being cancelled, but Hastings was able to sell the film rights for £2,000, and it was turned into a Hollywood film called The Notorious Lady starring Lewis Stone
Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
and Barbara Bedford.
His next play was titled Scotch Mist, and was put on at St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre, located in West Street, near Charing Cross Road, in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed as one of a pair of theatres with the Ambassadors Theatre by W.G.R...
on 26 January 1926 starring Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
and Godfrey Tearle
Godfrey Tearle
Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential Englishman on stage and in both English and US films.-Biography:...
. After a reviewer named John Ervine wrote a review starting "this is the worst play I have ever seen", the performances bizarrely sold out for weeks later. The play was later called "scandalous and immoral" by the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram KCVO PC was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.-Early life and career:He was born in Worcestershire, the fourth son of the Revd Edward Winnington-Ingram and of Louisa...
, and as a result sold out for many months. Emboldened by this success Hastings wrote The Moving Finger, which despite moderately good reviews was not popular, and was withdrawn as a result. In 1930 he wrote Slings and Arrows, which never made it to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
because when his family, who were familiar with the play, attended the shows, they read out the lines of the characters in bored and dreary voices just before the actors themselves spoke. As a result the play was reduced to chaos.
Retirement and death
Hastings retired from most of his work as a barrister in 1938, but soon found a way to occupy himself after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Although far past the age at which he could join the armed forces, Hastings wrote to the Secretary of State for WarSecretary of State for War
The position of Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a British cabinet-level position, first held by Henry Dundas . In 1801 the post became that of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The position was re-instated in 1854...
offering his services, and was eventually contacted by Kingsley Wood
Kingsley Wood
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance...
, the Secretary of State for Air
Secretary of State for Air
The Secretary of State for Air was a cabinet level British position. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. It was created on 10 January 1919 to manage the Royal Air Force...
, who offered him a commission in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
as a squadron leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
in Administrative and Special Duties Branch, serving with Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
. His commission was dated 25 September 1939. He then started work at RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park
RAF Stanmore Park was a Royal Air Force station in Stanmore, Middlesex .-History:The unit was opened in 1939 and closed in 1997. In 1939 Balloon Command was established at Stanmore Park....
, but found his work "very depressing" - most of the other officers were over thirty years younger than he was, and he suffered from continuous bad health while there. His one major contribution was to create a scheme allowing the purchase of small models of German aircraft, allowing the British forces on the ground an easy way to identify incoming planes and avoiding friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
situations. Due to his ill-health he relinquished his commission on 7 December 1939.
In Spring 1940 he was elected Treasurer of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. He participated in only a few cases following his war service. One was a high-profile case in November and December 1946 in which he was engaged by the Newark
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
Advertiser in defence of a libel action brought by Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
, who was seeking to clear his name from the newspaper's claim that he had called for socialism "even if it means violence". Cross-examining Laski, the following exchange occurred:
Laski's counsel later said that he hoped that Hastings would at least have said "Touché". Laski lost the case, unable to counter the questioning from Hastings which referred to his previous written works.However the stress of the case told on Hastings.
In 1948, Hastings published his autobiography, simply titled The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings, and the following year published Cases in Court, a book giving his views on 21 of his most noted cases. The same year he published Famous and Infamous Cases, a book on noted trials through history, such as those at Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
. In early 1948, he suffered a small stroke which forced him to retire permanently from work as a barrister. On 11 November 1949, he and his wife travelled to Kenya, where their son Nicky had moved to start a new life after the end of the Second World War. While there, he suffered a second stroke due to the air pressure, and he never fully recovered. Hastings spent the next two years of his life living in a flat in London, before dying on 26 February 1952 of cerebral thrombosis.
Personal life
Hastings married Mary Grundy on 1 June 1906. The couple had two sons, David and Nicholas, and three daughters. David died in the Second World War fighting in the Pacific TheatrePacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, and Nicholas became a farmer in Kenya. One daughter, Barbara, married Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Bentley
Nicolas Clerihew Bentley was a British author and illustrator famous for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s...
, a cartoonist.