John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson
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The Right Honorable The Lord Donaldson of Lymington PC QC |
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|---|---|
| Master of the Rolls | |
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In office 30 July 1982 – 1 October 1992 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | The Lord Denning |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Bingham of Cornhill |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Francis Donaldson 6 October 1920 |
| Died | 31 August 2005 (aged 84) UK |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington (née Dorothy Mary Warwick) |
| Education | Charterhouse School |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | QC, jurist |
John Francis Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington, PC, QC (6 October 1920 – 31 August 2005) was a senior British judge who served as Master of the Rolls for ten years, from 1982-92. He is best known in some circles for his role as presiding judge in the infamous Guildford Four miscarriage of justice, especially his closing remarks where he regretted his inability to hang those wrongly convicted.
He was born at 6 King Street, St Marylebone, London, the son of Malcolm Donaldson (1884-1973), consultant gynaecologist, and his first wife, Evelyn Helen Marguerite, née Gilroy. His father was 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 Member of Parliament. He was an Independent Ratepayers Councillor for the County Borough of Croydon from 1949-53.
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 demobbed as a lieutenant-colonel aged 25.
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