Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury, PC (3 September 1823 – 11 December 1921) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He served three times as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, for a total of seventeen years, a record not equaled by anyone except Lords Hardwicke and Eldon.[1]
The son of a newspaper editor, Giffard was called to the English bar in 1850 and acquired a large criminal practice, defending the likes of Governor Eyre and Arthur Orton, the Tichborne claimant. He was chosen as solicitor-general by Disraeli in 1874, despite not securing a seat in the House of Commons until three years later. In 1885, he was appointed to the lord chancellorship by Lord Salisbury, and was created Baron Halsbury, serving until the following year. He then held the lord chancellorship again from 1886 until 1892, and from 1895 until 1905, when he resigned, aged 86. In 1898, he was further honoured with an earldom and a viscounty, becoming the Earl of Halsbury.[1]
After relinquishing the lord chancellorship, Halsbury continued to sit as a law lord, delivering a judgement aged 93 in 1916.[1] During the constitutional crisis over the Parliament Act 1911, Halsbury was one of the principal leaders of the rebel faction of Tory peers—labelled the "Ditchers"—that resolved on all out opposition to the government's bill limiting the House of Lords' veto whatever happened.[1] He was also the first editor of the legal encyclopaedia which today bears his name, Halsbury's Laws of England.[1]
During his tenure on the woolsack, Halsbury was accused of favouring conservative lawyers for judicial appointments, although the consideration of political allegiances for judicial appointments was a common practice at the time, and later commentators have blamed bad luck for the failure of several of the judges he appointed.[1] He was also accused of allowing political considerations affect his decisions as a judge, in particularly as they related to trade unions.[1] He was, however, sympathetic to working men seeking workmen's compensation. In the realm of legal reform, he was responsible for enacting the Land Transfer Act of 1897 and the Criminal Evidence Act of 1898.[1]
Having entered the Inner Temple as a student in 1848, he was called to the bar there in 1850.[2] Giffard joined the Westen, then the South Wales circuits. Afterwards he had a large practice at the Central Criminal Court and the Middlesex sessions, and he was for several years junior prosecuting counsel to the Treasury, and working treasurer in 1881.[2] He was engaged in most of the celebrated trials of his time, including the Overend and Gurney and the Tichborne cases. He became Queen's Counsel in 1865, and a bencher of the Inner Temple.[2]
Image of Hardinge Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury from Halsbury's Laws of England, 1st ed, Vol 1.
In 1885, Giffard was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain[2] in Lord Salisbury's first administration, and was created Baron Halsbury, of Halsbury in the County of Devon, thus forming a remarkable exception to the rule that no criminal lawyer could ever reach the woolsack. He resumed the position in 1886 and held it until 1892 and again from 1895 to 1905, his tenure of the office, broken only by the brief Liberal ministries of 1886 and 1892–1895, being longer than that of any Lord Chancellor since Lord Eldon.[3] In 1898 he was created Earl of Halsbury and Viscount Tiverton, of Tiverton, Devon.
Later career and leader of the "ditchers", 1905–1921
During the crisis over the Parliament Act 1911, Halsbury was one of the principal leaders of the rebel faction of Tory peers—labelled the "Ditchers"—that resolved on all out opposition to the government's bill limiting the House of Lords' veto whatever happened. At a meeting of Conservative peers on 21 July of that year, Halsbury shouted out "I will divide even if I am alone". As Halsbury left the meeting a reporter asked him what was going to happen. Halsbury immediately replied: "Government by a Cabinet controlled by rank socialists".[6]
Halsbury's lasting legacy was the compilation of a complete digest of "Halsbury's Laws of England" (1907–1917), a major reference work published in many volumes and often called simply "Halsbury's". "Halsbury's Laws" was followed by a second multiple-volume reference work in 1929, "Halsbury's Statutes", and later by "Halsbury's Statutory Instruments".[citation needed]
Lord Halsbury died on 11 December 1921, aged 98.
Family
Halsbury married firstly Caroline, daughter of William Corne Humphreys, in 1852. There were no children from this marriage. Caroline died in September 1873. Halsbury married secondly Wilhelmina, daughter of Henry Woodfall, in 1874.[2] He died in December 1921, aged 98, and was succeeded by his only son from his second marriage, Hardinge. The Countess of Halsbury died in December 1927.[citation needed]
Character and assessment
Appearance
According to Herbert Stephen, "Halsbury's features were good, and expressive of power and resolution; his short and stoutly built figure lent itself to caricature." To G. R. Rubin, writing later, "In physical appearance he was somewhat plain and unprepossessing. He had a broad body, and a large head without eyelashes and with an upraised nose. His short legs accentuated his dumpy and pugnacious appearance. But he exuded an expression of power and resolution."[1]
Assessments
Assessments of Halsbury have varied over the decades. Halsbury's death was not acknowledged in the pages of the Law Quarterly Review, whereas Lord Lindley, who had passed away two days before Halsbury, was the subject of a tribute.[1]
Notable judgments
Among cases in which Halsbury delivered judgment are:[citation needed]
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