Sir Courtenay Ilbert | |
---|---|
33rd Clerk of the House of Commons | |
In office 1902–1921 | |
Preceded by | Archibald Milman |
Succeeded by | Thomas Lonsdale Webster |
First Parliamentary Counsel | |
In office 1899–1902 | |
Preceded by | Henry Thring,1st Baron Thring |
Succeeded by | Henry Jenkyns |
Personal details | |
Born | Kingsbridge,England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | 12 June 1841
Died | 14 May 1924 82) Penn,Buckinghamshire,England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | (aged
Nationality | British |
Relatives | Lettice Fisher (daughter) Mary Bennett (grand-daughter) |
Alma mater | Balliol College,Oxford |
Occupation | Lawyer,Civil servant |
Known for | Ilbert Bill Legislative Methods and Forms |
Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, GCB , KCSI , CIE , FBA (12 June 1841 –14 May 1924) was a distinguished British lawyer and civil servant who served as legal adviser to the Viceroy of India's Council for many years until his eventual return from India to England. His later career included appointments as the First Parliamentary Counsel (1899–1902) and as Clerk of the House of Commons from 1902 to 1921.
Ilbert was born at Kingsbridge,Devon to the Reverend Peregrine Arthur Ilbert,rector of Thurlestone,and Rose Anne (daughter of George Welsh Owen,of Lowman Green,Tiverton,Devon). He was educated at Marlborough College (1852–60) and at Balliol College,Oxford,where he won the Hertford,Ireland,Craven,and Eldon scholarships. He took first-class honours in classical moderations and literae humaniores and was elected a fellow of Balliol in 1864,where he was Bursar from 1871 to 1874. [1] He was President of the Oxford Union in Michaelmas 1865.
Ilbert was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1869,and began to practice in property law,with an emphasis on drafting trusts and other documents. His expertise as a draftsman attracted the attention of Sir Henry Thring who invited him to help prepare bills:among his bills he helped to prepare were the Statute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act of 1881 and 1883.
The Viceroy of India,the Marquess of Ripon sought an imaginative constitutional lawyer and a Liberal to become the Law Member of the Viceroy's Council,in succession to the likes of Lord Macaulay,Sir Henry Maine,and Sir James Fitzjames Stephen. At the invitation of Lord Hartington,Secretary of State for India,Ilbert was offered the position in 1882 and proceeded to India,where he served until 1886.
During his time in India,Ilbert drafted many important pieces of legislation,but by far the most famous was his eponymous Ilbert Bill. Introduced by Ilbert in 1883,the Bill proposed to allow non-European Magistrates or Sessions Judges to try "European British subjects",something which existing legislation did not allow. European reactions in India to the proposal were extremely hostile,which in turn stimulated the growth of Indian nationalism. The response in Britain was more divided:the Bill was criticized by some,notably by Ilbert's predecessor Sir James Fitzjames Stephen,but the Bill received substantial support in Britain as well. As a result of the controversy,the bill was significantly amended. The extent of Ilbert's personal support for the Bill are unclear:R. C. J. Cocks speculated that Ilbert approved of the principles the Bill embodied,but was dubious as to its political expediency. [1]
He was appointed assistant parliamentary counsel to Treasury in 1886 and First Parliamentary Counsel in 1899. In February 1902,Ilbert was appointed Clerk of the House of Commons, [2] and he served as such until 1921. [1]
Ilbert married Jessie,daughter of Reverend Charles Bradley and niece of George Bradley,former headmaster of Marlborough College in 1874. They had five daughters,the oldest,Lettice Fisher became the first to head the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child. [1] His fourth daughter Margaret Peregrina Ilbert (1882–1952) married Sir Arthur Cochrane of the College of Arms.
Ilbert was an outdoorsman in his youth and he climbed in Chamonix (1871 with Leslie Stephen and M. Loppe) [3] the Hekla in Iceland and the Vignemale in the Pyrenees in 1872–73 with James Bryce. [4] When Ilbert lived in Simla,at Chapslee house,he founded a Simla Natural History Society around 1885 but the organization dissolved when he left Simla in 1886. [5]
Ilbert died a few months after the death of his wife at his home in Troutwells,Buckinghamshire on 14 May 1924. [1]
Ilbert was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India in 1895,as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1908,and as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1911. He was a founding Fellow of the British Academy (1903). [1]
Ilbert reflected on laws and law-making and wrote several books on parliamentary and legislative procedure and history that were highly regarded. Jurists like Sir Carleton Kemp Allen praised his knowledge of parliamentary procedure but felt he was outdated. He pointed out to how government initiatives were modified into legally actionable forms but many[ weasel words ]considered Ilbert to be outdated and old-fashioned in putting faith in public opinion to exert corrective action on legislative abuses. [1]
Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, 1st Baronet, KCSI was an English lawyer, judge, writer, and philosopher. One of the most famous critics of John Stuart Mill, Stephen achieved prominence as a philosopher, law reformer, and writer.
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The Ilbert Bill was a bill formally introduced on 9 February 1883 during the Viceroyship of the Marquess of Ripon, which was drafted by Sir Courtenay Peregine Ilbert, the legal member of the Council of the Governor-General of India. It concerned the jurisdiction of Magistrates or Sessions Judges to try charges against "European British subjects" if they were themselves not European.
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The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is responsible for drafting all government Bills that are introduced to Parliament. Established in 1869, the OPC has been part of various departments and is currently part of the Cabinet Office. Led by Elizabeth Gardiner, the First Parliamentary Counsel and Permanent Secretary, the OPC consists of 60 members of staff, 47 of whom are lawyers and 13 of whom are support staff. The lawyers who work in the office are referred to as Parliamentary counsel or Parliamentary draftsmen.
Legislative Methods and Forms is a 372 page book written by Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert and published by Oxford in 1901. "It is a description of the rivalry between common and statute law, with special reference to the details of preparation, passage and codification of statutes in Great Britain and her colonies. The book also contains a complete and interesting collection of statutory forms for bills on various subjects commonly treated by Parliament." Donald Raistrick said it is useful. James Bryce said: "It is full of valuable information and acute remarks upon modern English legislation, and brings together a mass of historical facts never previously collected." "The chapter on 'Parliament as a Legislative Machine' will be interesting to the lay reader as well as to the publicist." By 1915, the book was "well known". By 1957, it had "fallen into an unmerited neglect".
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