PinnedAt thirty years’ callLearning to Read I was born in early 1960, a child of that optimistic decade by a handful of weeks. I learned to read early and was a bookish child, living in imaginary worlds remote from the ordinary suburban house in south-west London where my brother and I grew up…Barrister35 min readBarrister35 min read
Sep 1, 2022The Battle of TrevalgaINTRODUCTION Ninety years ago, on a beautiful spring day in May 1932, an older and a younger man set off with packed lunches and thermos flasks from Launceston to visit the ancient manor of Trevalga on the north coast of Cornwall. They ate their lunch in the middle of a…Trevalga31 min readTrevalga31 min read
Mar 20, 2021Vigils and vigilanceIt started in the days after the death of Princess Diana in the late summer of 1997. Piles of flowers, impromptu shrines with candles, cards and messages, heaped up at the gates of her London home, Kensington Palace, and in the Mall approaching Buckingham Palace. Saturation broadcasting and press coverage…Charity14 min readCharity14 min read
Nov 22, 2020“Excepting one bed and one Bible”Supported will-making before the Wills Act 1837 In late May 1833, four years before Queen Victoria came to the throne of the United Kingdom and shortly afterwards gave Royal Assent to the Wills Act 1837, Starkey Jennings, a man who had been paralysed by a stroke and partially lost his…Legal History13 min readLegal History13 min read
Nov 8, 2020Small Change: Charity and the National Debt — Waiting for JudgmentUpdate: 9 November 2020 — judgment in Attorney General v. Zedra Fiduciary Services UK Ltd [2020] EWHC 2988 (Ch) has now been published on BAILII, upholding the validity of the National Fund as a charitable trust for the purpose of discharging the National Debt and deciding that the court can…National Debt17 min readNational Debt17 min read
Oct 25, 2020Out of the Frozen Deep — VLost and Found — 1860–2020 This is the story behind and beyond the facts and evidence in Ommanney v Stilwell (23 Beav 328) 53 ER 129, a case decided in the High Court in England in 1856. The court had to consider the unknown date of death of naval lieutenant…History13 min readHistory13 min read
Oct 11, 2020The Prodigal Son in Modern LifeFS v RS and JS [2020] EWFC 63 In 1984, the now-defunct Trustee Savings Bank adopted the memorable advertising slogan “The Bank That Likes To Say Yes”. The customers they were saying “yes” to then were paying interest of 12.5%[1] …Family Law13 min readFamily Law13 min read
Sep 16, 2020A #BackTo60 SetbackIntroduction On Tuesday 15 September 2020, the Court of Appeal gave judgment in R (Delve and Glynn) v. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] EWCA Civ 1199. Julie Delve and Karen Glynn are two women in their sixties who brought a judicial review application, claiming that legislation…Pensions10 min readPensions10 min read
Sep 11, 2020Honora Jenkins and her legacy — laid to rest at last?This blog is the fourth instalment in a series which I have written over the past six months on the prospective changes to s9 of the Wills Act 1837 to meet public health requirements of social distancing in signing and witnessing wills in England and Wales during the coronavirus crisis…Wills Act 183714 min readWills Act 183714 min read
Aug 21, 2020Honora Jenkins and her legacy — a further updateFormalities of will-making in England and Wales during the coronavirus pandemic This is an update to blogs I have previously published on this subject on 29 March and 6 June 2020, and accompanies a webinar broadcast by my chambers, 5 Stone Buildings, on 21 August 2020. On 25 July 2020…Wills Act 183714 min readWills Act 183714 min read
