The Right Honourable The Lord Simon of Glaisdale PC QC DL |
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Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
In office 1959–1962 |
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Preceded by | Harry Hylton-Foster |
Succeeded by | John Hobson |
Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 1958–1959 |
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Preceded by | Enoch Powell |
Succeeded by | Edward Boyle |
Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough West | |
In office 1951 – 1962 |
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Preceded by | Geoffrey Cooper |
Succeeded by | Jeremy Bray |
Jocelyn Edward Salis Simon, Baron Simon of Glaisdale, PC, QC, DL (15 January 1911 – 7 May 2006) was a Law Lord in the United Kingdom, having been, by turns, a barrister, a commissioned officer in the British Army, a barrister again, a Conservative Party politician, a government minister, and a judge.
He held three ministerial positions in the government of Harold Macmillan, during his 11-year tenure as a member of the House of Commons. He also served as President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division (now the Family Division) of High Court for nine years, and was a Law Lord for 6 years before his retirement in 1977.
Simon's appointment, as of 2015, marks the last appointment of a former member of the House of Commons as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (although Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, appointed before Simon but retiring after Simon, was the last serving Law Lord to have previously served in the Commons.) As noted by The Independent in his obituary, "Jack Simon was the last of a breed of judges who first pursued a successful career in politics before promotion to the Bench."
Simon was born in Hampstead in London, the son of Claire and Frank Cecil Simon. His father was a stockbroker. He was educated at Gresham's School, in Holt, Norfolk and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall in 1963. He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1934, and joined the chambers of Tom Denning (later Lord Denning MR), practising mainly in family law and trust law.