The Right Honourable John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington , PC (6 October 1920–31 August 2005) was a senior British judge who served as Master of the Rolls for 10 years, from 1982 to 1992. The Right Honourable (abbreviated The Rt Hon. ... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain traditionally being first and the Lord Chief Justice second. ...

Early and private life

The son of a Harley Street-based gynaecologist, Donaldson attended first Charterhouse and then Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as chairman of the Federation of University Conservative and Unionist Associations, and harboured ambitions of becoming a Conservative Party politician. Harley Street is a road in the City of Westminster in London. ... The shamefulness associated with the examination of female genitalia has long inhibited the science of gynaecology. ... Charterhouse School is a British public school, located in Godalming in the county of Surrey. ... Full name The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity Motto Virtus vera nobilitas Virtue is true Nobility Named after The Holy Trinity Previous names Kings Hall and Michaelhouse (until merged in 1546) Established 1546 Sister College Christ Church Master Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Location Trinity Street... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the centre-right in the United Kingdom. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ...

After graduating with a lower second class degree in 1941, he joined the war effort as a commissioned officer in the Royal Signals. He then served with the Guards Armoured Divisional Signals, both domestically and in North-West Europe, until the end of the war in 1945. He served in the military government of Schleswig-Holstein, and was was demobbed as a lieutenant-colonel aged only 25. 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe... In military organizations, a commissioned officer is a member of the service who derives authority directly from a sovereign power, and as such holds a commission from that power. ... The Royal Corps of Signals (sometimes referred to incorrectly as the Royal Signal Corps and often known simply as the Royal Signals or R Sigs) is one of the arms (combat support corps) of the British Army. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the 16 Bundesländer in Germany. ... Insignia of a United States Lieutenant Colonel Insignia of a British Army Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel (usually Lieutenant-Colonel in Britain) is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and marine corps (and some air forces) of Commonwealth countries and the United States superior to Major and subordinate to...

He married his wife, Mary (later Dame Mary Donaldson), in 1945, having met her at Middlesex Hospital where she was serving as a nurse. She later became the first woman to be a member of the City of London Court of Common Council, the first female alderman, the first female sheriff and, finally, in 1983, the first female Lord Mayor of London. Together, they had two daughters and a son. His wife predeceased him in October 2003. The Right Honourable Dorothy Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington, GBE (born 29 August 1921), better known as Dame Mary Donaldson, was the first female Lord Mayor of London (serving in that office in 1983–1984) and is the widow of John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, who was Master... For information on the televsion show Nurses see Nurses (TV series). ... The eastern side of the City of London viewed from St. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... Sheriff is both a political and a legal office held under English common law, Scots law or American common law, or the person who holds such office. ... Michael Berry Savory is the current Lord Mayor of London. ...

In private life, he enjoyed skiing and sailing, indulging the later pastime from his house at Lymington in Hampshire, on the Solent Skiing is the activity of gliding over snow using skis (originally wooden planks, now usually made from fiberglass or related composites) strapped to the feet with ski bindings. ... Wooden sailing boat Sailing is the skillful art of controlling the motion of a sailing ship or smaller boat, across a body of water using wind as the source of power. ... Lymington is a port on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Satellite image showing the Solent, separating the Isle of Wight from mainland Britain The Solent is a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Great Britain. ...

Legal career

Donaldson was called to the Bar in 1946 as a Harmsworth scholar at Middle Temple. He joined the chambers of Sir William Willink QC at 3 Essex Court and built a successful tort and commercial practice. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1961, and became a High Court Judge when he was appointed to the Queen's Bench Division in 1966: aged only 46, he remained the youngest High Court judge for a number of years. The Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... Commercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. ... Queens Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male Sovereign known as Kings Counsel (KC), are barristers or, in Scotland, advocates appointed by Letters patent to be one of Her Majestys Counsel learned in the law. They do not constitute a separate order or degree of... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The term High Court could refer to one of the following institutions: High Court of England and Wales High Court of Australia The Four Courts of Ireland The High Court of Justiciary in Scotland And the 18 High Courts of India The High Court of Andhra Pradesh The High Court... One of the ancient courts of England, the Kings Bench (or Queens Bench when the monarch is female) is now a division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ...

He became the first (and last) President of the abortive National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC, also known as the Industrial Relations Tribunal) from its formation by Ted Heath's Conservative government in 1971 under the Industrial Relations Act 1971 until it was abolished in 1974. The trades unions doubted his independence, pointing to his Tory inclinations in his youth, and nicknamed him "Black Jack", and 181 MPs signed a House of Commons motion calling for his dismissal. However, lawyers who appeared before him considered that he acted fairly throughout. The Court was abolished when Labour returned to power in 1974, and Donaldson returned to the bench at the Commercial Court in 1974, where he remained for five years. Many observers consider that Labour Party politicans passed him over for promotion to higher judicial office while they remained in power. You might be looking for: Edward Heath (1916–2005) — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ... MP or mp can mean any of the following: Member of Parliament Military Police Modus ponens Madhya Pradesh - a state in India Mathematical Physics Microprocessor Machine Pistol Molecular Pathology Multi-port Multi-platform Mission Possible - a Christian based childrens ministry Mission Praise - a Christian hymn book Montgomery-Pfeifer - A... In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... The name Labour Party or Labor Party is used by several political parties around the world. ...

Two months after Margaret Thatcher was elected in 1979, he became a Lord Justice of Appeal, and was thus was automatically appointed to the Privy Council. He replaced Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls in 1982, becoming the presiding officer of the civil division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, where he pushed forward modernisation efforts, including the introduction of skeleton arguments in civil appeals, judgments being "handing down" rather than read, and enhanced case management. Donalsdon's early reforms would later be overtaken by the Civil Procedure Rules introduced by a later Master of the Rolls, Lord Woolf. The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, also Leader of the Opposition from 1975, and the only woman to date to hold the former... Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. ... Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899–6 March 1999) was a British barrister from Hampshire who became Master of the Rolls (the senior civil judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales) and was generally well liked, both within the legal profession and outside it. ... The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain traditionally being first and the Lord Chief Justice second. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system (with only the judges of the House of Lords above it). ... The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 came into force in England & Wales on 26 April 1999, largely replacing and significantly overhauling the previous Rules of the Supreme Court (applicable to the High Court of Justice) and the County Court Rules. ... Henry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, PC (born May 2, 1933), is the current Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, making him the second most senior judge in England and Wales after the Lord Chancellor. ...

In his various roles, Donaldson was involved in many high-profile cases from the 1970s onwards. He presided over the trials of the Guildford Four in 1975 and the Maguire Seven in 1976, and was later criticised in Sir John May's interim report of his inquiry into the miscarriages of justice; he refused to prevent newspapers from publishing the memoirs of Peter Wright in 1988; and he ruled in 1991 that the then Home Secretary, Kenneth Baker was in contempt of court over an extradition case, in which a man was deported to Zaire while the case was still pending, contrary to a court order. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... The Guildford Four were Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick (Paddy) Armstrong and Carole Richardson, who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing which killed five and injured over one hundred people. ... The Maguire Seven case was an infamous incident of wrongful conviction in the United Kingdom. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that they did not commit. ... See also Peter Wright (rugby player) and Pete Wright (musician) Peter Wright (August 9, 1916 - April 27, 1995) was a former MI5 counterintelligence officer noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher (ISBN 0670820555), which was part memoir, part exposé of what Wright claimed to be serious institutional failings in MI5. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Home Secretary (official full title Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... Kenneth Baker Kenneth Wilfrid Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, PC, (born 1934), is a British politician, and former Conservative MP. Son of a civil servant, he was educated at St Pauls school, London and Magdalen College, Oxford. ... Contempt of court is the failure to obey a lawful order of a court, disrespect for the judge, disruption of the proceedings through poor behavior, or publication of material deemed likely to jeopardize a fair trial. ...

In retirement

After retiring as a judge in 1992, he wrote influential reports into two martime accidents involving the grounding of oil tankers and subsequent spills of crude oil: the grounding of the MV Braer off the Shetland Islands in January 1993, in which 85,000 tonnes of oil escaped; and the grounding of the Sea Empress at the entrance to Milford Haven in February 1996, and subsequent escape of over 70,000 tonnes of oil next to the Pembrokeshire coast. A tanker is usually a vehicle carrying large amounts of liquid fuel. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus – rock and oleum – oil), mineral oil, or crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths... Shetland Islands The Shetland Islands (also sometimes spelled Zetland or Hjaltland) are one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and also form a traditional county and Lieutenancy area. ... A tonne (also called metric ton) is a non-SI unit of mass, accepted for use with SI, defined as: 1 tonne = 1000 kg (= 106 g). ... Milford Haven (Welsh: Aberdaugleddau meaning Mouth of the Two Cleddaus) is a town in Pembrokeshire, Wales. ... Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in the southwest of Wales in the United Kingdom. ...

In the 2000-2001 session of Parliament, he presented a Private Member's Bill in the House of Lords (the Parliament Acts (Amendment) Bill), which would have had the effect of confirming the legitimacy of the Parliament Act 1949 to address concerns raised by legal academics as to whether the use of the Act was valid. [1]. The Bill was not passed, and Donaldson supported the legal action by the Countryside Alliance to overturn the Hunting Act 2004, which was passed under the provisions of the Parliament Acts. A Private Members Bill is a proposed law introduced by a member of parliament, whether from the government or the opposition side, to that legislature or parliament. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... In the United Kingdom, Parliament Act refers to each of two Acts of Parliament, passed in 1911 and 1949 respectively. ... The Countryside Alliance strongly opposes House of Commons plans to ban fox hunting. ... The Hunting Act 2004 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom passed in 2004. ... In the United Kingdom, Parliament Act refers to each of two Acts of Parliament, passed in 1911 and 1949 respectively. ...

External links

• Former judge Lord Donaldson dies (BBC News, 1 September 2005)
• Obituaries
  • Obituary (BBC News, 1 September 2005)
  • Obituary (The Telegraph, 2 September 2005)
  • Obituary (The Guardian, 3 September 2005)
  • Obituary (The Independent, 9 September 2005)
  • Obituary (The Times, 9 September 2005)

BBC News and Current Affairs (sometimes abbreviated BBC NCA) is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations news gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC News and Current Affairs (sometimes abbreviated BBC NCA) is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations news gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Independent is a British compact (tabloid) newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Right Honourable Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 6 March 1999) PC, OM was a British barrister from Hampshire who became Master of the Rolls (the senior civil judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales) and was generally well liked, both within the legal... The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain traditionally being first and the Lord Chief Justice second. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The Right Honourable Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, KG, PC (born October 13, 1933), is one of the most senior judges in the United Kingdom. ...