Lord Wilberforce

The Right Honourable The Lord Wilberforce QC PC
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 1964–1982
Personal details
Born	11 March 1907
Died	15 February 2003 (aged 95)
Nationality	English
Alma mater	New College, Oxford
Profession	Barrister, Judge

Richard Orme Wilberforce, Baron Wilberforce, QC, PC (11 March 1907 – 15 February 2003), was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in the House of Lords from 1964 to 1982.

Richard Wilberforce was a great-great-grandson of the famous abolitionist William Wilberforce, and son of Samuel, a judge of the Lahore High Court, India. His mother Katherine was the daughter of Bishop John Sheepshanks. He was born in India and attended Norwich School, Sandroyd School, Winchester College and New College, Oxford, and was later elected a Fellow of All Souls College. He was called to the Bar in 1932 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1954.

He was first appointed to the bench in 1961 as a Chancery judge. Then in 1964 he was appointed to the House of Lords as a Lord Appeal in Ordinary, skipping over the Court of Appeal, and was made a life peer as Baron Wilberforce, of the City and County of Kingston-upon-Hull. He is the only England and Wales judge in recent times to have been appointed to the House of Lords straight from the High Court Bench, without serving in the Court of Appeal. His decisions were known for being reserved and cautious. He served as a Law Lord for 18 years.

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