Rigby Swift
Encyclopedia
Sir Rigby Philip Watson Swift KC (7 June 1874 - 19 October 1937) was a British barrister
, Member of Parliament and judge. Born into a family of solicitors and barristers, Swift was educated at Parkfield School before taking up a place in his father's chambers
and at the same time studying for his LLB at the University of London
. After completing his degree in January 1895 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
on 26 June. He took up a place in his father's chambers, and his work steadily increased. After the death of his father on 26 September 1899 he took over the chambers, and by 1904 he was earning 3,000 guineas
a year.
By 1909 he was considered the most prestigious junior barrister in Liverpool, and in 1910 he became the Conservative
Member of Parliament for St Helens
. He moved to London in 1911, and was made a King's Counsel in 1912. His work continued to increase, and by 1916 he was earning 10,000 guineas a year. In the same year he became Recorder
of Wigan
and a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn
. In 1917 he defended Frederick Handel Booth
in Gruban v Booth
, and in 1918 he represented the Air Ministry in front of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
.
On 21 June 1920 he was made a judge of the High Court of Justice
by the Lord Chancellor
Lord Birkenhead
, and became the youngest High Court judge at the time. In 1921 he heard the "Sinn Féin case", an application of the controversial Treason Felony Act 1848
, and his decision in Nunan v Southern Railway Company [1923] 2 K.B. 703 was an important one in relation to exclusion clause
s and liability, and was referenced by Lord Hanworth
in the later case Thompson v LMS Railway. Swift died on 19 October 1937 while still a High Court judge, and was buried in Rotherfield
.
, three of his sons also became solicitors, his brother was a registrar and his cousin, Sir John Rigby
was a barrister
and later judge. After John Rigby became a King's Counsel in 1880, Thomas Swift switched paths and became a barrister. He specialised in criminal work, and served as counsel in the trial of Florence Maybrick
. His career change had a great impact on the family - they moved from Lancashire to Liverpool
(where Thomas Swift's Chambers
were) and Rigby Swift was undoubtedly influenced by his father's career when it came to choosing one of his own.
After some time spent with a governess
, Swift began formal education at the age of 10 when he attended a small preparatory school
. The school was not a good one - Swift later wrote that "I was immoderately bullied... during the whole time I was there I think I learnt nothing." In May 1886 he moved to Parkfield School, where he became head boy and held a "kindly, easy authority". In 1892 he began studying to become a barrister in a way completely unique - by working at his father's set of chambers
from the age of 17. Standard practice was for a student to do a law degree and study the legal theory, before moving to a set of chambers as a pupil
to learn the practical application of the law. Swift instead studied both simultaneously, and became noticed by the solicitors of Liverpool before he was even called to the Bar
. At this time he became a friend of Frederick Greer
, later Baron Fairfield and Lord Chancellor
.
As well as the practical work in his father's chambers, Swift also studied at the University of London
, gaining an LLB in January 1895 before he was 21, and frequently spoke at the Liverpool Law Students Society, where he debated with Henry McCardie
. On 26 June 1895 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
by Joseph Chitty, and became qualified to practice as a barrister
.
in front of Mr Justice Cave
- a case he won, although he felt that he had worked "horribly". His work increased over the next two years, and in 1897 he acted as a junior for John Bigham
QC
, later a High Court Judge. Swift would occasionally appear in court against his father, and the two were noted for deliberately baiting each other. By 1899 he was earning 462 guineas
in a year, over twelve times what he was earning when he was first called to the Bar. His first murder case was in 1899, and although he lost he was commended by the judge (Mr Justice Wills
) for the "great taste and propriety" of his final argument.
On 26 September 1899 his father, Thomas Swift, fell ill on the way home from chambers
and died on the bus. With Thomas Swift dead, Rigby Swift had to decide what to do with his father's chambers. Although it would cause significant financial hardship for Swift and his clerk, he decided to run the chambers himself. This soon turned out to be a wise move - many of Thomas Swift's clients chose to stay on with Rigby, and in 1899 he defended the United Alkali Company
from a lawsuit resulting from a large explosion at their chemical plant in St Helens
. In the same year another two barristers joined the chambers, one of whom later became a High Court judge. By the end of 1900 Swift had earned over 1000 guineas. In 1902 he was earning 2,000 guineas
a year, and by 1904 he was earning 3,000. By 1909 he was considered the most prestigious junior barrister (a barrister who isn't a Queen's Counsel
) in Liverpool.
on the Conservative Party
ticket. The seat had previously been Conservative-held, but since 1906 had been controlled by the Labour Party
with a safe majority of 1,411 votes. Swift campaigned hard, but despite his work and a "brilliant incursion" by F. E. Smith
, Swift was defeated 6,512 votes to 5,717, leaving the sitting Labour member (Thomas Glover) with a majority of 795. Swift ran for the same seat again in the December election, the previous government having lasted only 11 months. The campaign was more hard-fought than the previous one, and was described as "one of the fiercest elections ever contested in a red-hot constituency". When the results were announced, Swift had won with 6,016 votes to Glover's 5,752, a narrow majority of 264.
Now that he was a Member of Parliament, Swift applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). The Lord Chancellor
(Lord Loreburn
) rejected his application because of the custom that a prospective KC should first open a practice in London. In 1911 he moved to London, something which initially cut into his income as solicitor
s were not aware of him. When the new Lord Chancellor Lord Haldane
promoted a new set of KCs in 1912, Swift was among them. From this point onwards his share of cases began to improve.
In 1913 he defended Cecil Chesterton
in the libel trial over his coverage of the Marconi scandal
, along with Ernest Wild KC. In opposition was "as formidable a team as ever conducted a prosecution" - Edward Carson
, later Baron Carson, F. E. Smith
, later Earl Birkenhead and Richard Muir
. The allegations by Chesterton were so extreme that a criminal libel case was launched. Chesterton lost, but the case brought Swift's name to the attention of London solicitors.
In 1916 he became Recorder
of Wigan
. The same year he was made a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn
, and by this point was earning 10,000 guineas
a year. He disliked going out of London, and doubled his fees to a minimum of 200 guineas for cases outside London. Despite this the more money he charged, the more cases he got. He also followed a rule that meant he would only deal with one case at a time - again this failed to cut down the number of solicitors looking to employ him, because they appreciated a barrister who would dedicate all his working hours to their particular case. In 1917 he defended Frederick Handel Booth
in Gruban v Booth
, and in 1918 he represented the Air Ministry in front of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
.
, the Lord Chancellor
, to become a judge
of the High Court of Justice
. He was formally appointed on 21 June, along with Edward Acton, and was knighted on 12 August. When appointed he was 46, and was the youngest High Court judge at that time. His appointment was considered a good one by the press; The Times
wrote that "no appointment could be met with greater approval - we might even say enthusiasm - in the legal profession and among the public than that of Mr. Rigby Swift", while the Daily Mail
wrote that "Mr. Rigby Swift has long been marked out for judgeship". After 1934 he occasionally sat as an additional judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
.
was applied. From 1920 to 1921 Manchester
had been targeted by IRA
forces who mounted an incendiary campaign against the city, setting fire to over 40 buildings between November 1920 and April 1921. On 2 April the police raided the local IRA headquarters, and in the ensuing fight one IRA member was killed and another wounded. A further nineteen were captured, and they went on trial at the next Assize Court. They were charged under the Treason Felony Act based on their membership of the IRA and of Sinn Féin
. This was the first time that anyone had been charged simply for being a member of Sinn Féin, and was seen by the British government as a landmark case, with the Attorney General
Sir Gordon Hewart
acting as the prosecution.
The trial began on 4 July and lasted for six days. The proceedings were heavily guarded - Swift was escorted into court by armed police, the court itself was surrounded by armed patrols and the public were not allowed to watch the proceedings. Witnesses were brought over from Ireland under armed guard and given complete anonymity. The argument of the defence was a weak one, and was not accepted by the defendants themselves, who argued that they were prisoners of war and that their actions were therefore not covered by normal criminal law. Neither Swift or the jury were convinced, however, and after being found guilty the men were sentenced to between three and fifteen years of penal servitude
.
was Nunan v Southern Railway Company [1923] 2 K.B. 703. Nunan was a workman who was killed in an accident caused by the negligence of railway employees. Under the Fatal Accidents Act
his widow could claim compensation from the railway company, but the case was complicated because of an exclusion clause
on the ticket he was using which limited the company's liability to £100. The widow argued that the exclusion clause was only binding on her husband when he was alive, and that it did not affect parliamentary statute such as the Fatal Accidents Act.
Swift decided that while the ticket bound Nunan, his widow was right in saying that the clause did not affect parliamentary statute, and he awarded her £800. His judgment played an important part in and was referenced in the later decision of Lord Hanworth
in Thompson v LMS Railway.
was massively backlogged, with even the Lord Chancellor
Lord Birkenhead
helping deal with cases. Despite this the backlog continued to grow, and in 1920 Swift was seconded to the Divorce Court to deal with cases. Many of them were deliberately arranged divorces, with one party sending the other a letter reading along the lines of "Please divorce me. Here is a bill from - Hotel, I was there with a man who wishes to throw his lot in with mine". In 1925 Swift was again seconded to the Divorce Court, and began to get frustrated with the arranged divorces. On 22 April, while hearing a case, he exclaimed that the arranged divorces were "a perfect farce", included elements of collusion
and that he had half a mind to send the cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions
. His comments were widely reported by the press, and he apologised the next day, saying that he was simply disgusted by a system in which one party had to pretend to commit adultery to get a divorce.
.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, Member of Parliament and judge. Born into a family of solicitors and barristers, Swift was educated at Parkfield School before taking up a place in his father's chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
and at the same time studying for his LLB at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. After completing his degree in January 1895 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on 26 June. He took up a place in his father's chambers, and his work steadily increased. After the death of his father on 26 September 1899 he took over the chambers, and by 1904 he was earning 3,000 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
a year.
By 1909 he was considered the most prestigious junior barrister in Liverpool, and in 1910 he became the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament for St Helens
St Helens (UK Parliament constituency)
St Helens was a county constituency in the county of Lancashire, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. He moved to London in 1911, and was made a King's Counsel in 1912. His work continued to increase, and by 1916 he was earning 10,000 guineas a year. In the same year he became Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
and a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
. In 1917 he defended Frederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth was a British politician, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1910 to 1918.He was born near Manchester in 1867, and attended the high school in Bolton le Moor....
in Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools for manufacturing munitions for the First World War...
, and in 1918 he represented the Air Ministry in front of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force was a Select Committee of the House of Lords created to investigate a complaint by Violet Douglas-Pennant that she had been fired in an attempt by several senior Women's Royal Air Force officers to cover up "rife immorality"...
.
On 21 June 1920 he was made a judge of the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
by the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, and became the youngest High Court judge at the time. In 1921 he heard the "Sinn Féin case", an application of the controversial Treason Felony Act 1848
Treason Felony Act 1848
The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....
, and his decision in Nunan v Southern Railway Company [1923] 2 K.B. 703 was an important one in relation to exclusion clause
Exclusion clause
An exclusion clause is a term in a contract that seeks to restrict the rights of the parties to the contract.Traditionally, the district courts have sought to limit the operation of exclusion clauses...
s and liability, and was referenced by Lord Hanworth
Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth
Ernest Murray Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth KBE PC KC was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and Master of the Rolls.He was the MP for Warwick and Leamington from 1910 to 1923...
in the later case Thompson v LMS Railway. Swift died on 19 October 1937 while still a High Court judge, and was buried in Rotherfield
Rotherfield
Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross, and Eridge.-Etymology:...
.
Early life and education
Swift was born on 7 June 1874 at Hardshaw Hall, Lancashire to Thomas Swift and his second wife Emily. The male members of the family were mostly lawyers - Thomas Swift was a solicitorSolicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
, three of his sons also became solicitors, his brother was a registrar and his cousin, Sir John Rigby
John Rigby (politician)
Sir John Rigby PC , was a British judge and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1894.-Background and education:...
was a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and later judge. After John Rigby became a King's Counsel in 1880, Thomas Swift switched paths and became a barrister. He specialised in criminal work, and served as counsel in the trial of Florence Maybrick
Florence Maybrick
Florence Elizabeth Maybrick was an American woman convicted in Great Britain of murdering her considerably older husband, James Maybrick.-Early life:...
. His career change had a great impact on the family - they moved from Lancashire to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
(where Thomas Swift's Chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
were) and Rigby Swift was undoubtedly influenced by his father's career when it came to choosing one of his own.
After some time spent with a governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
, Swift began formal education at the age of 10 when he attended a small preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
. The school was not a good one - Swift later wrote that "I was immoderately bullied... during the whole time I was there I think I learnt nothing." In May 1886 he moved to Parkfield School, where he became head boy and held a "kindly, easy authority". In 1892 he began studying to become a barrister in a way completely unique - by working at his father's set of chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
from the age of 17. Standard practice was for a student to do a law degree and study the legal theory, before moving to a set of chambers as a pupil
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
to learn the practical application of the law. Swift instead studied both simultaneously, and became noticed by the solicitors of Liverpool before he was even called to the Bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
. At this time he became a friend of Frederick Greer
Frederick Greer, 1st Baron Fairfield
Frederick Arthur Greer, 1st Baron Fairfield PC was a British lawyer and judge. Born to a merchant and his wife, Greer became a barrister and member of Gray's Inn, practicing in Liverpool. In 1910 he became a King's Counsel, and in 1919 a judge of the High Court of Justice...
, later Baron Fairfield and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
.
As well as the practical work in his father's chambers, Swift also studied at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, gaining an LLB in January 1895 before he was 21, and frequently spoke at the Liverpool Law Students Society, where he debated with Henry McCardie
Henry McCardie
Sir Henry Alfred McCardie was a controversial British judge. Educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham he left school at 16 and spent several years working for an auctioneer before qualifying as a barrister and being called to the Bar in 1894...
. On 26 June 1895 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
by Joseph Chitty, and became qualified to practice as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
.
At the Bar
Swift's first proper case took place in November 1895 at the High Court of JusticeHigh Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
in front of Mr Justice Cave
Lewis Cave
Lewis William Cave was a British judge.-Biography:He was born at Desborough, Northamptonshire, the eldest son of William Cave, a local landowner, and his wife, Elizabeth...
- a case he won, although he felt that he had worked "horribly". His work increased over the next two years, and in 1897 he acted as a junior for John Bigham
John Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey
John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey was a British jurist and politician. After early success as a lawyer, and a less successful spell as a politician, he was appointed a judge, working in commercial law....
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, later a High Court Judge. Swift would occasionally appear in court against his father, and the two were noted for deliberately baiting each other. By 1899 he was earning 462 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
in a year, over twelve times what he was earning when he was first called to the Bar. His first murder case was in 1899, and although he lost he was commended by the judge (Mr Justice Wills
Alfred Wills
Sir Alfred Wills PC was a British High Court judge and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club from 1863 to 1865.-Early life:...
) for the "great taste and propriety" of his final argument.
On 26 September 1899 his father, Thomas Swift, fell ill on the way home from chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
and died on the bus. With Thomas Swift dead, Rigby Swift had to decide what to do with his father's chambers. Although it would cause significant financial hardship for Swift and his clerk, he decided to run the chambers himself. This soon turned out to be a wise move - many of Thomas Swift's clients chose to stay on with Rigby, and in 1899 he defended the United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company
United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890. Producer of soda ash by the Leblanc process and used in the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in 1926 with Brunner Mond, Nobel Explosives and...
from a lawsuit resulting from a large explosion at their chemical plant in St Helens
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
. In the same year another two barristers joined the chambers, one of whom later became a High Court judge. By the end of 1900 Swift had earned over 1000 guineas. In 1902 he was earning 2,000 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
a year, and by 1904 he was earning 3,000. By 1909 he was considered the most prestigious junior barrister (a barrister who isn't a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
) in Liverpool.
Politics and King's Counsel
In January 1910, Swift ran for Member of Parliament for St HelensSt Helens (UK Parliament constituency)
St Helens was a county constituency in the county of Lancashire, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
on the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
ticket. The seat had previously been Conservative-held, but since 1906 had been controlled by the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
with a safe majority of 1,411 votes. Swift campaigned hard, but despite his work and a "brilliant incursion" by F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, Swift was defeated 6,512 votes to 5,717, leaving the sitting Labour member (Thomas Glover) with a majority of 795. Swift ran for the same seat again in the December election, the previous government having lasted only 11 months. The campaign was more hard-fought than the previous one, and was described as "one of the fiercest elections ever contested in a red-hot constituency". When the results were announced, Swift had won with 6,016 votes to Glover's 5,752, a narrow majority of 264.
Now that he was a Member of Parliament, Swift applied to become a King's Counsel (KC). The Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
(Lord Loreburn
Robert Reid, 1st Earl Loreburn
Robert Threshie Reid, 1st Earl Loreburn GCMG, PC, QC was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He served as Lord Chancellor between 1905 and 1912.-Background and education:...
) rejected his application because of the custom that a prospective KC should first open a practice in London. In 1911 he moved to London, something which initially cut into his income as solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s were not aware of him. When the new Lord Chancellor Lord Haldane
Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane
Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane KT, OM, PC, KC, FRS, FBA, FSA , was an influential British Liberal Imperialist and later Labour politician, lawyer and philosopher. He was Secretary of State for War between 1905 and 1912 during which time the "Haldane Reforms" were implemented...
promoted a new set of KCs in 1912, Swift was among them. From this point onwards his share of cases began to improve.
In 1913 he defended Cecil Chesterton
Cecil Chesterton
Cecil Edward Chesterton was an English journalist and political commentator, known particularly for his role as editor of The New Witness from 1912 to 1916, and in relation to its coverage of the Marconi scandal....
in the libel trial over his coverage of the Marconi scandal
Marconi scandal
The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in the summer of 1912. It centred on allegations that highly-placed members of the Liberal government, under H. H...
, along with Ernest Wild KC. In opposition was "as formidable a team as ever conducted a prosecution" - Edward Carson
Edward Carson, Baron Carson
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson PC, PC , Kt, QC , often known as Sir Edward Carson or Lord Carson, was a barrister, judge and politician from Ireland...
, later Baron Carson, F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, later Earl Birkenhead and Richard Muir
Richard Muir
Sir Richard David Muir was a prosecutor for the British Crown, widely regarded as the greatest of his time; he played a prominent role in many of the most sensational trials of the early part of the 20th century, most notably that of Hawley Harvey Crippen.Muir was born in Scotland, the son of...
. The allegations by Chesterton were so extreme that a criminal libel case was launched. Chesterton lost, but the case brought Swift's name to the attention of London solicitors.
In 1916 he became Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
. The same year he was made a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, and by this point was earning 10,000 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
a year. He disliked going out of London, and doubled his fees to a minimum of 200 guineas for cases outside London. Despite this the more money he charged, the more cases he got. He also followed a rule that meant he would only deal with one case at a time - again this failed to cut down the number of solicitors looking to employ him, because they appreciated a barrister who would dedicate all his working hours to their particular case. In 1917 he defended Frederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth
Frederick Handel Booth was a British politician, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1910 to 1918.He was born near Manchester in 1867, and attended the high school in Bolton le Moor....
in Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth
Gruban v Booth was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools for manufacturing munitions for the First World War...
, and in 1918 he represented the Air Ministry in front of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force
The Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Women's Royal Air Force was a Select Committee of the House of Lords created to investigate a complaint by Violet Douglas-Pennant that she had been fired in an attempt by several senior Women's Royal Air Force officers to cover up "rife immorality"...
.
Judge
In June 1920 he received an invitation from Lord BirkenheadF. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
, the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, to become a judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
of the High Court of Justice
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
. He was formally appointed on 21 June, along with Edward Acton, and was knighted on 12 August. When appointed he was 46, and was the youngest High Court judge at that time. His appointment was considered a good one by the press; The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote that "no appointment could be met with greater approval - we might even say enthusiasm - in the legal profession and among the public than that of Mr. Rigby Swift", while the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
wrote that "Mr. Rigby Swift has long been marked out for judgeship". After 1934 he occasionally sat as an additional judge in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
.
In 1934 in court during a libel action brought by Aleister Crowley (after a statement that Crowley practised black magic), black and white magic were solemnly discussed in court before Mr Justice Swift. The plaintiff said that he had founded a community in Sicily for the purpose of studying white magic.
Sinn Féin case
In 1921 Swift heard a case (known at the time as the Sinn Féin case) in which the controversial Treason Felony Act 1848Treason Felony Act 1848
The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....
was applied. From 1920 to 1921 Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
had been targeted by IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
forces who mounted an incendiary campaign against the city, setting fire to over 40 buildings between November 1920 and April 1921. On 2 April the police raided the local IRA headquarters, and in the ensuing fight one IRA member was killed and another wounded. A further nineteen were captured, and they went on trial at the next Assize Court. They were charged under the Treason Felony Act based on their membership of the IRA and of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. This was the first time that anyone had been charged simply for being a member of Sinn Féin, and was seen by the British government as a landmark case, with the Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
Sir Gordon Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, PC was a politician and judge in the United Kingdom.-Background and education:...
acting as the prosecution.
The trial began on 4 July and lasted for six days. The proceedings were heavily guarded - Swift was escorted into court by armed police, the court itself was surrounded by armed patrols and the public were not allowed to watch the proceedings. Witnesses were brought over from Ireland under armed guard and given complete anonymity. The argument of the defence was a weak one, and was not accepted by the defendants themselves, who argued that they were prisoners of war and that their actions were therefore not covered by normal criminal law. Neither Swift or the jury were convinced, however, and after being found guilty the men were sentenced to between three and fifteen years of penal servitude
Penal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
.
Nunan v Southern Railway Company
A case of Swift's with important implications for the common lawEnglish law
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
was Nunan v Southern Railway Company [1923] 2 K.B. 703. Nunan was a workman who was killed in an accident caused by the negligence of railway employees. Under the Fatal Accidents Act
Fatal Accidents Act
The Fatal Accidents Act is the name of several Acts of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom:*Fatal Accidents Act 1846, also known as Lord Campbell's Act;*Fatal Accidents Act 1864;*Fatal Accidents Act 1959; and*Fatal Accidents Act 1976....
his widow could claim compensation from the railway company, but the case was complicated because of an exclusion clause
Exclusion clause
An exclusion clause is a term in a contract that seeks to restrict the rights of the parties to the contract.Traditionally, the district courts have sought to limit the operation of exclusion clauses...
on the ticket he was using which limited the company's liability to £100. The widow argued that the exclusion clause was only binding on her husband when he was alive, and that it did not affect parliamentary statute such as the Fatal Accidents Act.
Swift decided that while the ticket bound Nunan, his widow was right in saying that the clause did not affect parliamentary statute, and he awarded her £800. His judgment played an important part in and was referenced in the later decision of Lord Hanworth
Ernest Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth
Ernest Murray Pollock, 1st Viscount Hanworth KBE PC KC was a British Conservative Member of Parliament and Master of the Rolls.He was the MP for Warwick and Leamington from 1910 to 1923...
in Thompson v LMS Railway.
Divorce
During the 1920s the Divorce CourtHigh Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
was massively backlogged, with even the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
Lord Birkenhead
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
helping deal with cases. Despite this the backlog continued to grow, and in 1920 Swift was seconded to the Divorce Court to deal with cases. Many of them were deliberately arranged divorces, with one party sending the other a letter reading along the lines of "Please divorce me. Here is a bill from - Hotel, I was there with a man who wishes to throw his lot in with mine". In 1925 Swift was again seconded to the Divorce Court, and began to get frustrated with the arranged divorces. On 22 April, while hearing a case, he exclaimed that the arranged divorces were "a perfect farce", included elements of collusion
Collusion
Collusion is an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage...
and that he had half a mind to send the cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales)
The Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is a senior prosecutor, appointed by the Attorney General. First created in 1879, the office was unified with that of the Treasury Solicitor less than a decade later before again becoming independent in 1908...
. His comments were widely reported by the press, and he apologised the next day, saying that he was simply disgusted by a system in which one party had to pretend to commit adultery to get a divorce.
Death
On 15 April 1937 his wife, Lady Swift, had a large heart attack. She survived for four days before finally dying on 19 April. Swift returned to work and his life continued, but it was "continuation from mere momentum" rather than any desire to live. On 15 October he had a heart attack, and on 19 October, exactly six months after his wife's death, he died at home and was buried in a graveyard in RotherfieldRotherfield
Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross, and Eridge.-Etymology:...
.