John Hamilton, 1st Viscount Sumner

The Right Honourable The Viscount Sumner GCB PC
Contemporary photograph of Lord Sumner by Walter Thomas
Personal details
Born	3 February 1859 Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Lancashire
Died	24 May 1934 (aged 75)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Maude Margaret Todd
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford

John Andrew Hamilton, 1st Viscount Sumner GCB PC (3 February 1859 – 24 May 1934), was a British lawyer and judge. He was appointed a judge of the High Court of Justice (King's Bench Division) in 1909, a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1912 and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1913. Created a life peer as Baron Sumner in 1913, he was further honoured when he was granted a hereditary peerage as Viscount Sumner in 1927.

Background and education

Hamilton was born in Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Lancashire,^[1] the second son of Andrew Hamilton, an iron merchant of Manchester,^[2] and his wife, Francis, daughter of Joseph Sumner.^[3] Hamilton was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford.^[1] In 1883, he was called to the bar, Inner Temple.^[2] Hamilton was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, for seven years from 1892 and was nominated an honorary fellow in 1909.^[3] He received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Edinburgh in 1913 and by the University of Manchester in 1919.^[4] One year later, Hamilton obtained also an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law by the University of Oxford.^[4]

Judicial career

Hamilton joined in the Northern Circuit and became a King's Counsel in 1901.^[2] He was elected a standing counsel to the Oxford University in 1906, a post he held for the next three years.^[4] On his appointment as Judge of the High Court of Justice (King's Bench Division) in 1909, he was knighted and invested a bencher.^[2] In 1912 he became a Lord Justice of Appeal and sworn of the Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.^[2] Already in the following year, Hamilton became a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a life peer as Baron Sumner, of Ibstone, in the County of Buckingham.^[5] He was further honoured, when on 31 January 1927, he was also elevated to a hereditary peerage as Viscount Sumner, of Ibstone, in the County of Buckingham.^[6] Hamilton retired as judge in 1930.^[1]

Further career

In 1908, Hamilton was Inspector in the Swansea Education Dispute.^[2] In the House of Lords, he was chairman of the Working Classes Cost of Living, the British Cellulose Enquiry and the British and Foreign Legal Procedure committees.^[2] Hamilton took part at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as delegate of the reparations commission, for which he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1920 Birthday Honours.^[2] In the next year, he chaired the Royal Commission on Compensation for Suffering and Damage by Enemy Action.^[4]

Family and legacy

In 1892, he married Maude Margaret Todd, the second daughter of Reverend John Wood Todd.^[3] Their marriage was childless, and with Hamilton's death, the viscountcy became extinct.^[3] In 2009 a biography of Lord Sumner was published by Anthony Lentin.^[7]

Famous judgements

• Bowman v The Secular Society (1917)

References

1. "The Open University - Lord Sumner: a 'vice-like grip of legal principles'". Retrieved 8 July 2009.
2. Debrett, John (1922). Arthur G. M. Hesilrige, ed. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench. London: Dean & Son, Ltd. p. 346.
3. Whitaker's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage. London: Whitaker & Sons. 1921. p. 535.
4. Who is Who 1926. London: Adam & Charles Black Ltd. 1926. p. 2816.
5. The London Gazette: no. 28766. p. 7335. 21 October 1913. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
6. The London Gazette: no. 33245. p. 722. 4 February 1927. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
7. "Spectator Book Club - Review of "The Last Political Law Lord: Lord Sumner, 1859-1934"". Retrieved 8 July 2009.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Hamilton, 1st Viscount Sumner
• Portraits of John Hamilton, 1st Viscount Sumner at the National Portrait Gallery, London