Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens
|
The Right Honourable The Lord Spens KBE PC KC |
|
|---|---|
| Chief Justice of India | |
|
In office 1943–1947 |
|
| Monarch | George VI |
| Preceded by | Srinivas Vardachariar (acting) |
| Succeeded by | H. J. Kania |
| Member of Parliament for Kensington South | |
|
In office 23 February 1950 – 8 October 1959 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Law |
| Succeeded by | William Roots |
| Member of Parliament for Ashford | |
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In office 17 March 1933 – 1943 |
|
| Preceded by | Michael Knatchbull |
| Succeeded by | Edward Percy Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Patrick Spens 9 August 1885 |
| Died | 15 November 1973 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) |
Hilda Mary Bowyer (m. 1913; d. 1962) Kathleen Annie Fedden Dodds (m. 1963) |
| Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
William Patrick Spens, 1st Baron Spens, KBE, PC, KC (9 August 1885 – 15 November 1973) was a British lawyer, judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Justice of India from 1943 to 1947.
Spens was the eldest of the six children of Nathaniel Spens, a chartered accountant and managing director of state liquidation, born in Glasgow and of Frimley, Surrey, and Emily Jessie Connal. His parents were of Scottish descent. Spens was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1910. He served in the First World War as an adjutant in the 5th battalion of the Queen's Royal Regiment. After the war Spens started practising as a lawyer and became a King's Counsel (KC) in 1925. He unsuccessfully contested St Pancras South West in the 1929 general election, but was elected for Ashford in 1933. In 1943 Spens was unexpectedly appointed Chief Justice of India. He retained this post until 1947.
He served from 1947 to 1948 as chairman of the tribunal set up to arbitrate between Indian judges disagreeing over the concept and substance of the Partition of India which had been announced by Lord Mountbatten and was being detailed by Sir Cyril Radcliffe's two boundary commission (one for Bengal, one for present-day Pakistan).
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