View source for Geoffrey Cross, Baron Cross of Chelsea

{{Short description|British judge (1904–1989)}}
{{Other people|Arthur Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = The Lord Cross of Chelsea
| termend1            = 1971
| nationality         = British
| birth_name          = Arthur Geoffrey Neale Cross
| birth_place         = [[London]]
| alma_mater          = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| termend2            = 1969
| termstart2          = 1960
| termstart1          = 1969
| office              = [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]]
| termend             = 1975
| termstart           = 1971
| office2             = [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|Justice of the High Court]]
| office1             = [[Lord Justice of Appeal]]
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|commas=on|PC}}
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| children            = 2
| image               = File:Lord Cross of Chelsea.png
}}
'''Arthur Geoffrey Neale Cross, Baron Cross of Chelsea''', [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]] (1 December 1904 &ndash; 4 August 1989) was a British barrister and judge who served as a [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]] between 1971 and 1975.

== Early life and career ==
Geoffrey Cross was born in London, the elder child of Arthur George Cross, a quantity surveyor, and of Mary Elizabeth Cross, ''[[née]]'' Dalton. His younger brother, [[Rupert Cross]], later became a prominent academic lawyer. Cross was educated at [[Westminster School]], where he was a [[Scholarship|scholar]], and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he took [[British undergraduate degree classification|Firsts]] in both parts of the [[Classics]] tripos, as well as winning the Craven Scholarship in 1925. He was a fellow of Trinity College from 1927 to 1931, where he authored a notable work on [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|id=40087|title=Cross, (Arthur) Geoffrey Neale, Baron Cross of Chelsea (1904–1989)|last=Roskill|authorlink=Eustace Roskill, Baron Roskill}}</ref>

Though "he might have aspired to be a successor to [[Richard Porson]] or [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb|Sir Richard Jebb]]", Cross switched to law "for no discernible reason". He was [[Call to the bar|called to the bar]] by the [[Middle Temple]] in 1930 and practiced at the Chancery bar. He developed a large junior practice, especially in the field of [[estate duty]]. He [[Queen's Counsel|took silk]] in 1949. He appeared as leading counsel for the [[Bank of England]] before the bank rate leak inquiry in 1956, and for many years acted for [[Calouste Gulbenkian]] and his family.<ref name=":0" /> He was [[List of Chancellors of Durham|Chancellor of Durham]] between 1959 and 1960.

== Judicial career ==
In 1960, after nine years without new appointments to the [[Chancery division|Chancery Division]], Cross was appointed a [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|Justice of the High Court]], assigned to the Chancery Division, and received the customary [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]]. He was appointed a [[Lord Justice of Appeal]] in 1969, and was sworn of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]]. Two years later, on 12 March 1971, he was appointed [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]] and was created a [[life peer]] with the title '''Baron Cross of Chelsea''', of the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=16 March 1971|issue=45323|page=2278}}</ref> He retired from the House of Lords in 1975, upon reaching fifteen years of judicial service.<ref name=":0" />

After his retirement, Cross served as the Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the [[Panel on Takeovers and Mergers]] between 1976 and 1981.<ref name=":0" /> From 1976 to 1977 he chaired a commission on the organization of the accountancy profession.

Cross was elected a [[bencher]] of the Middle Temple in 1958 and an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1972.<ref name=":0" />

== Family ==
In 1952 Cross married Joan Davies, ''née'' Wilmot, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Eardley Wilmot, [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], and widow of Thomas Walton Davies; they had one daughter.<ref name=":0" /> Lady Cross of Chelsea died in 2011.

== Selected judgments ==

=== Court of Appeal ===

*''[[Harbutt's "Plasticine" Ltd v Wayne Tank and Pump Co Ltd]]'' [1970] 1 QB 447
*''[[Cuckmere Brick Co Ltd v Mutual Finance Ltd]]'' [1971] Ch 949

=== House of Lords and Privy Council ===

*''[[National Westminster Bank Ltd v Halesowen Presswork & Assemblies Ltd]]'' [1972] AC 785
*''[[Norwich Pharmacal Co v Customs and Excise Comrs]]'' [1974] AC 133
*''[[British Eagle International Airlines Ltd v Compagnie Nationale Air France|British Eagle International Air Lines Ltd v Cie Nationale Air France]]'' [1975] 1 WLR 758
*''[[Barton v Armstrong]]'' [1976] AC 104
*''[[DPP v Morgan]]'' [1976] AC 182
*''[[Oppenheimer v Cattermole]]'' [1976] AC 249
*''[[Universe Tankships Inc of Monrovia v International Transport Workers' Federation]]'' [1983] 1 AC 366

==References==
<references />{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross Of Chelsea, Geoffrey Cross, Baron}}
[[Category:Law lords]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Chancery Division judges]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Lawyers from London]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Lord justices of appeal]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:English classical scholars]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:20th-century English lawyers]]