Gilbert Beyfus QC

Gilbert Hugh Beyfus (1885-1960) was an English barrister whose clients included Liberace, John Aspinall and Aneurin Bevan. He was called to the bar in 1908, took silk in 1933 and continued working until his death in 1960. Many of his notable cases were related to divorce, libel, slander and interpretation of the UK gambling laws.

Beyfus's parents were Emmie Marguerite Ruth Plumsted and solicitor Alfred Beyfus. His grandfather, Solomon Beyfus, was a London-based furniture manufacturer, trader, diamond dealer and bill discounter. His great-grandfather, Gotz Philip Beyfus, who came to Britain from Germany in the early part of the 19th century, was a professor of languages, taught in the Western Synagogue and was the secretary of the Jews’ Free School.

Beyfus had one sibling, a half brother called Alfred Butt, who later became a theatre impresario and politician. Many of his uncles had wide-ranging business interests and these included directors of theatres, department stores, fruit importers, a solicitor, diamond dealers and money lenders.

Beyfus was educated at Harrow School (entry 1899) and Trinity College, Oxford where he obtained a second class honour in 1907. Later that year he took his examination for the Bar and was awarded a Certificate of Honour. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in January 1908 and took silk in 1933.

Beyfus stood for parliament in 1910 as a Liberal candidate for the constituency of Cirencester. The Conservative candidate, Benjamin Bathurst, won the seat with a majority of 8.8%. He next tried for a parliamentary seat in Dudley, again as a Liberal candidate. He was selected and the election was due in 1915, but the start of World War I delayed this. In addition, Beyfus had joined the army and was sent to the front in February 1915. After the war he tried again to win a seat and was selected as a National Liberal candidate for Kingswinford where he was beaten in the 1922 election by the Labour incumbent MP Charles Henry Sitch. In 1923 he was approached by the Liberal Party of East Nottingham to be their candidate, but rejected the offer. In 1937 he joined the Conservative Party and applied twice to be candidates for them, but on both occasions failed to be selected.

...
Wikipedia