Francis Purchas
| Rt Hon Sir Francis Purchas | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Francis Brooks Purchas 19 June 1919 |
| Died | 9 September 2003 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Barrister and Judge |
| Known for | Lord Justice of Appeal |
Sir Francis Brooks "Bob" Purchas, PC (19 June 1919 – 9 September 2003) was a British judge who sat on the Court of Appeal.
Francis Brooks Purchas was the son of Captain Francis Purchas of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. As a child Francis was taken for a short time to India, where his father was posted. It was there that he acquired the nickname "Bob" - a shortened version of the Hindi for baby.
He was educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Hawks' Club.
In World War II he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, he served on General Eisenhower's general staff in the North Africa Campaign as a cartographer where he was awarded the Africa Star. Later in the war he would also win the Italy Star during the advance into Italy. He later served at the Allied Military Commission in Vienna, and was eventually demobilised as an honorary lieutenant colonel.
After the War he returned to Cambridge, and switched to studying law. He graduated and was called to the Bar in 1948. Later he would specialise in parliamentary and local government work. He took Silk in 1965, and served as leader of the South Eastern circuit from 1972 to 1974.
He married Patricia Milburn in 1942, whom he had met whilst studying at Cambridge. They had two sons. Slightly unusually, whilst Sir Francis was sitting as a Court of Appeal judge, he had two sons both practising at the bar as Queen's Counsel.
During a lecture to the Family Bar Association in 1994, he criticed the Lord Chancellor of the time, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, accusing him of presiding over a creeping encroachment of executive power over judicial independence.
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