The Right Honourable The Earl Jowitt PC QC |
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William Allen Jowitt c. 1945
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Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | |
In office 27 July 1945 – 26 October 1951 |
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Monarch | George VI |
Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
Preceded by | The Viscount Simon |
Succeeded by | The Lord Simonds |
Personal details | |
Born |
15 April 1885 Stevenage, Hertfordshire |
Died | 16 August 1957 Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk |
(aged 72)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse(s) | Lesley McIntyre |
Alma mater | New College, Oxford |
William Allen Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt, PC QC (15 April 1885 – 16 August 1957) was a British Labour politician and lawyer, who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Clement Attlee from 1945 to 1951.
Jowitt was born in Stevenage, the son of Reverend William Jowitt, the village rector, by his wife Louisa Margaret (née Allen). At the age of nine he was sent to Northaw Place, a preparatory school in Potters Bar, where he first met and was looked after by Clement Attlee. From Northaw he went to Marlborough, and then to New College, Oxford. He studied law and was called to the Bar in 1909.
Jowitt became a member of chambers in Brick Court in London. He proved himself a skilled advocate, attracting attention for his subdued and charming manner, at a time when barristers were more inclined to browbeat witnesses. He became a King's Counsel the day before the 1922 general election, in which he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for The Hartlepools. Jowitt was a member of the faction of the Liberal Party led by H.H. Asquith, and somewhat radical in his beliefs. He continued to practise law whilst a backbench MP, and was not considered a great orator in the House of Commons.