‘It is something to have lived through this century- the most dangerous century in the history of the English people. Our family has one it’s part. All five of us brothers fought in the wars. Two were lost. They were the best of us. Three survive. One to become a General. One an Admiral. And me, the Master of the Rolls. Some day, if I have time, I will tell the family story. (Lord Denning, The Discipline of Law)
Lord Denning has now found time to tell the remarkable story of his family. He recounts how the five brothers and sisters grew up in the small Hampshire town where their father was a draper, and describes the parts they played in this ‘most dangerous century’. The stories of the brothers are brought vividly to life by the use of extracts from their letters or writings, by extracts from the ‘War Diary’ accounts of the Battle (on land) of the Somme and of the Battle (at sea) of Jutland, and by quotations from contemporary literature.
In telling his own part in the story, Lord Denning includes mentions of some of the most famous, and some of the most notorious, law cases of our times. These include the unfinished case of Stephen Ward, Christine Keeler, and Mandy Rice-Davies, the horrifying 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, the British Steel Corporation ‘mole’, and the strange case of Grenouille v National Union of Seamen, reported in Not Yet TheTimes in 1970
Contents
Book One Before the Wars
Section One The Start
1. The background
2. At home
3. The environment
4. Education
Section Two The First World War
Introduction
1. Jack the eldest son
2. Reg the Second son
3. Gordon the third son
4. Tom the fourth son\
Section Three Tom’s next twenty years
Introduction
1. Marriage
2. At the Bar
Section Four The Second World War
Introduction
1. Norman the fifth son
2. Reg continues in service
3. Tom- again in service
Book Two After the war
Introduction
1. Cuckfield
2. Lincoln’s Inn
3. Back to Whitchurch
Section Six Tom in the Courts
1. A judge of first instance
2. In the Court of Appeal
3. In the House of Lords
Section Seven Tom – Master of the Rolls
Section Eight Tom – in other roles
Epilogue
Index
Book One Before the Wars
Section One The Start
1. The background
2. At home
3. The environment
4. Education
Section Two The First World War
Introduction
1. Jack the eldest son
2. Reg the Second son
3. Gordon the third son
4. Tom the fourth son\
Section Three Tom’s next twenty years
Introduction
1. Marriage
2. At the Bar
Section Four The Second World War
Introduction
1. Norman the fifth son
2. Reg continues in service
3. Tom- again in service
Book Two After the war
Introduction
1. Cuckfield
2. Lincoln’s Inn
3. Back to Whitchurch
Section Six Tom in the Courts
1. A judge of first instance
2. In the Court of Appeal
3. In the House of Lords
Section Seven Tom – Master of the Rolls
Section Eight Tom – in other roles
Epilogue
Index
