Thomas Tomlin, Baron Tomlin

Last updated

Marion Olivia Waterfield
(m. 1893)
The Lord Tomlin
PC
Mr Justice Tomlin.png
Mr Justice Tomlin
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office
11 February 1929 13 August 1935
Children5, including Stephen Tomlin
Alma mater New College, Oxford

Thomas James Chesshyre Tomlin, Baron Tomlin, PC (6 May 1867 – 13 August 1935) was a British barrister and judge who served as lord of appeal in ordinary from 1929 until his death in 1935.

Contents

Early life and career

Born in Canterbury, Kent, the son of a barrister, Tomlin was educated at Harrow School and New College, Oxford, where he obtained a first-class degree in jurisprudence and second-class honours in the BCL. [1] He was called to the bar by the Middle Temple (1891) and ad eundem by Lincoln's Inn (1892). He was the pupil, then the devil, of Robert Parker, until the latter was appointed to the High Court in 1906; Tomlin, whose practice had until then been a moderate one, inherited most of Parker's practice.

Tomlin was junior equity counsel to the Board of Inland Revenue, the Board of Trade, the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, the Charity Commissioners, and the Board of Education. He took silk in 1913 and was elected a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1928 [1]

Judicial career

In 1923, Tomlin was appointed as a judge to the Chancery Division of the High Court and received the customary knighthood. As a Chancery judge, he was responsible for the creation of the eponymous Tomlin order. [1]

On 11 February 1929, he was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (without first serving on the Court of Appeal) and was created a life peer with the title Baron Tomlin, of Ash in the County of Kent, and was sworn into the Privy Council. [1]

As Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, he is perhaps best remembered for his leading judgment in the Duke of Westminster's case concerning tax avoidance, in which he said:

Every man is entitled if he can to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or his fellow tax-payers may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax. [2]

In addition to his judicial work, Tomlin served on a number of committees. He chaired the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors between 1923 and 1933. He was also the chairman of the Child Adoption Committee, the University of London Commissioners, the Home Office advisory committee on the Cruelty to Animals Act, and the Royal Commission on the Civil Service. [1]

Personal life

He married Marion Olivia Waterfield in 1893; they had two daughters and three sons, the youngest of whom was the sculptor Stephen Tomlin. [1]

Important judgments

Arms, as displayed at Lincoln's Inn Tomlin Achievement.png
Arms, as displayed at Lincoln's Inn

Related Research Articles

Nicolas Christopher Henry Browne-Wilkinson, Baron Browne-Wilkinson, PC was a British judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1991 to 2000, and Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1998 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse</span> English lawyer and judge

Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse, was an English lawyer and judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horace Davey, Baron Davey</span>

Horace Davey, Baron Davey, PC, FRS, FBA was an English judge and Liberal politician.

John Anson Brightman, Baron Brightman, PC was a British barrister and judge who served as a law lord between 1982 and 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe</span>

Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe, is a former barrister and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

Peter Julian Millett, Baron Millett,, was a British barrister and judge. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1998 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Parker, Baron Parker of Waddington</span> British judge and barrister (1857–1918)

Robert John Parker, Baron Parker of Waddington, PC was a British judge who served as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He has been described as "one of the most esteemed judges of the early twentieth century."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Ritchie Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen</span>

Charles Ritchie Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, PC was a British lawyer and judge who served as a lord of appeal in ordinary between 1975 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen</span>

Francis Xavier Joseph Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, PC, known as Frank Russell was a British judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Oliver, Baron Oliver of Aylmerton</span> British judge (1921–2007)

Peter Raymond Oliver, Baron Oliver of Aylmerton, PC was a British barrister and judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary between 1986 and 1991. The son of an academic lawyer, he served with distinction during the Second World War, before joining the Chancery bar. He was appointed to the High Court in 1974, to the Court of Appeal in 1980, and to the House of Lords in 1986, having earlier been tipped to succeed Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls in 1982. He retired in 1992, and in later life suffered from loss of sight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionel Cohen, Baron Cohen</span>

Lionel Leonard Cohen, Baron Cohen, PC, was a British barrister and judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jenkins, Baron Jenkins</span> British judge (1899–1969)

David Llewelyn Jenkins, Baron Jenkins was a British judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Romer, Baron Romer</span>

Mark Lemon Romer, Baron Romer, PC was a British barrister and judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Younger, Baron Blanesburgh</span>

Robert Younger, Baron Blanesburgh, was a British barrister and judge. The scion of a Scottish brewing family, he practised at the bar of England and Wales, before being appointed to the High Court in 1915, the Court of Appeal in 1919, and the House of Lords in 1923. He served as a law lord until 1937, when failing eyesight forced his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fergus Morton, Baron Morton of Henryton</span> British judge (1887–1973)

Fergus Dunlop Morton, Baron Morton of Henryton, MC, PC was a British barrister and judge who was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1947 to 1959. The son of a Scottish stockbroker, Morton was educated in Scotland and England, before being called to the English bar. After serving with the British Army in the First World War, during which he won the Military Cross, he developed a successful Chancery practice. He was appointed to the High Court in 1938, promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1944, and to the House of Lords in 1947, retiring from judicial service in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Cross, Baron Cross of Chelsea</span> British judge (1904–1989)

Arthur Geoffrey Neale Cross, Baron Cross of Chelsea, PC was a British barrister and judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary between 1971 and 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denys Buckley</span>

Sir Denys Burton Buckley, MBE was an English barrister and judge, rising to become a Lord Justice of Appeal.

Sir Charles Robert Ritchie Romer, was a British judge who served as Lord Justice of Appeal between 1951 and 1960.

The Duke of Westminster's case was an often cited case in tax avoidance. The full title and citation was Inland Revenue Commissioners v. Duke of Westminster [1936] A.C. 1; 19 TC 490.

William Whateley was an English barrister. He was noted as a supporter of the Conservative Party and the Church of England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lord Millett. "Tomlin, Thomas James Chesshyre, Baron Tomlin (1867–1935)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36531.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Inland Revenue Commissioners v. Duke of Westminster [1936] AC 1
  3. "Lincoln's Inn Great Hall, Wd1 Tomlin". Baz Manning. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2021.