View source for Samuel Porter, Baron Porter

{{Short description|British judge (1877–1956)}}{{For-multi|the Northern Irish politician and judge|Samuel Clarke Porter|other people with the title of Lord Porter|Lord Porter (disambiguation){{!}}Lord Porter}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = The Lord Porter
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| caption             = Porter in 1952 by Walter Stoneman
| image               = Lord Porter 1952.jpg
| honorific_suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|GBE|PC|sep=|size=100%}}
| office              = [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]]
| office1             = [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|Justice of the High Court]]
| termstart           = 28 March 1938
| termend             = 14 October 1954
| termstart1          = 7 November 1934
| termend1            = 28 March 1938
| birth_name          = Samuel Lowry Porter
| alma_mater          = [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]]
| successor1          = [[Cyril Asquith, Baron Asquith of Bishopstone|Sir Cyril Asquith]]
| successor           = [[Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds|The Viscount Simonds]]
| predecessor         = [[Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham|The Lord Maugham]]
| predecessor1        = None
}}
'''Samuel Lowry Porter, Baron Porter''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|GBE|PC|sep=,|size=100%}} (7 February 1877 &ndash; 13 February 1956) was a British judge who served as a [[Lords of Appeal in Ordinary|Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]] from 1938 until 1954. He was one of the few judges promoted directly from the High Court bench to the House Lords without serving on the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]].

==Early life and career==
Born in [[Headingley]], [[Leeds]], Porter was the son of Hugh Porter (born 1877), a warehouse manager, and his wife, Mary Ellen Lowry.<ref name=":0" /> He was educated at the [[the Perse School|Perse School]] and [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], where he took a third in Part I of the [[Classical Tripos|classical tripos]] in 1899 and a second in Part II of the law tripos in 1900.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|author=H. G. Hanbury|author2=D. G. T. Williams|id=35580|title=Porter, Samuel Lowry, Baron Porter}}</ref> He also obtained a [[half-blue]] in tennis.

He was [[Call to the bar|called to the bar]] by the [[Inner Temple]] in 1905, developing first a good general practice, then specialised in work in the Commercial Court.<ref name=":0" /> His legal career was interrupted by the [[First World War]]. Commissioned into the [[British Army]], he ended the war as a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on the [[General List|general list]].<ref name=":0" /> He was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] for his war service.<ref name=":0" />

Porter was appointed [[King's Counsel]] in 1925.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33029 |date=13 March 1925 |page=1773}}</ref> He was [[Recorder (judge)|Recorder]] of [[Newcastle-under-Lyme|Newcastle under Lyme]] from 1928 to 1932 and Recorder of Walsall from 1932 to 1934.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33449 |date=21 December 1928 |page=8399 |supp=y }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33795 |date=2 February 1932 |page=704}}</ref> A member of the Oxford Circuit, he served as a [[Commissioner of Assize|commissioner of assize]] on the South-Eastern Circuit in 1933, replacing [[Thomas Gardner Horridge|Mr Justice Horridge]] who was detained by work in London.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 1934 |title=Judgeship for Mr. S. Lowry Porter, K.C. |pages=4 |work=[[Gloucester Citizen]]}}</ref>

==Judicial career==

=== High Court ===
On 7 November 1934, he was appointed to one of the two new judgeships in the [[High Court of Justice]] created to clear congestions and arrears in the High Court, and authorised pursuant to an address from both Houses of Parliament.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 1934 |title=Two New Judges |pages=16 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 November 1934 |title=Two New Judges |pages=12 |work=[[Western Daily Press]]}}</ref> Assigned to the [[King's Bench Division]], he received the customary [[Knight Bachelor|knighthood]] on 23 November.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34103 |date=9 November 1934 |page=7154}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34108 |date=27 November 1934 |page=7610}}</ref>

According to [[Harold Hanbury]], "Porter's judgments in the King's Bench Division were always very sound. They were not spectacular, as he aimed at conciseness, and avoided the utterance of an unnecessary word."<ref name=":0" /> His ''Times'' obituary described his time in the High Court in the following terms:<blockquote>Of a judicial temperament, a sound lawyer, quiet but forceful in matter, and courteous to all who came before him, he was considered by many to have been one of the ablest of the King's Bench Judges.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=14 February 1956 |title=Lord Porter |pages=11 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref></blockquote>Though Porter did not have a high public profile, he came into prominence in 1936, when he chaired a tribunal of inquiry (whose other members were [[Gavin Simonds, 1st Viscount Simonds|Gavin Simonds]], KC and [[Roland Oliver (judge)|Roland Oliver]], KC) appointed to investigate "whether any unauthorized disclosure was made of information to the Budge for the present year, or any use made of any such information for the purposes of private gain."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

As a result of the tribunal's report, the Labour minister [[J. H. Thomas]] resigned as [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], as did [[Alfred Butt|Sir Alfred Butt]], MP.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The tribunal's procedure in relation to the examination of witnesses was subject to some criticism, included from Porter himself. As a result, corrective procedures were adopted for later similar inquiries.<ref name=":0" />

Porter was also occasionally involved in cases which attracted public attention. For instance, in 1935, he sentenced Canadian boxer [[Del Fontaine]] to death for the murder of Hilda Meeks. The same year, he issued a [[Bench Warrant|bench warrant]] against the [[vaudeville]] actress [[Peggy O'Neil]] for failing to answer a [[subpoena]].

=== House of Lords ===
On 28 March 1938, Porter was appointed [[Lord of Appeal in Ordinary]], in succession to the new [[Lord Chancellor]], [[Frederic Maugham, 1st Viscount Maugham|Lord Maugham]], without having previously served as a [[Lord Justice of Appeal]]. He was created a [[life peer]] with the title '''Baron Porter''', of Longfield in the [[County Tyrone|County of Tyrone]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34497 |date=29 March 1938 |page=2083}}</ref> On 30 March, he was introduced to the House of Lords and heard his first appeal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 March 1938 |title=Lord Porter |pages=4 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> On 1 April, he was sworn of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34499 |date=5 April 1938 |page=2239 }}</ref>

Porter sat on the appeal of [[William Joyce]], commonly known as "[[Lord Haw-Haw]]", who had been convicted of treason for his war-time propaganda broadcasts from Nazi Germany, and dissented from the majority.<ref>[http://www.uniset.ca/nold/1946AC347.pdf (1946) A.C. 347]</ref> He also dissented in ''[[National Anti-Vivisection Society]] v Inland Revenue Commissioners'' (1948), a leading case concerning charitable trusts.

Outside of judicial work, Porter was appointed to chair the Lord Chancellor's committee on defamation law in 1939. The committee's work was delayed as a result of World War II, not producing its report until 1948. The report's conclusions were implemented by the [[Defamation Act 1952]].<ref name="Glasgow">"Death of Lord Porter - Distinguished Judge", ''The Glasgow Herald'', 14 February 1956, p. 8.</ref> Porter was interested in international law, and was president of the [[International Law Association]] in 1946. He was also involved with wage negotiations in the coal industry.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=The Master of the Rolls |date=18 March 1956 |title=Lord Porter |pages=10 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

Porter resigned as Lord of Appeal in 1954 because of ill-health, having been promoted to be a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] (GBE) in the [[1951 New Year Honours]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39104 |date=1 January 1951 |page=10 |supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 October 1954 |title=Resignation Of Lord Porter |pages=8 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Gavin Simonds, 1st Baron Simonds]], who was elevated to a [[Viscount|viscounty]] on the occasion.

During the [[Second World War]], Lord Porter's flat in London was bombed, leading him to move to [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]], which had elected him an honorary fellow in 1937.<ref name=":0" /> He lived there for the remainder of his life, commuting to London by train and attending services at St Columba's Presbyterian Church, where his mother had worshipped.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=The Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge |author-link=Edward Welbourne |date=28 February 1956 |title=Lord Porter |pages=11 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> He died at the [[The London Clinic|London Clinic]] on 13 November 1956, having been due to serve as Treasurer of the Inner Temple in 1957. A memorial service was held at the [[Temple Church]] on 28 February 1956.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 February 1956 |title=In Memoriam |pages=6 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> [[He never married|He was unmarried]].<ref name=":0" />

== Selected cases ==

=== High Court ===

* ''Mutual Finance Ltd v John Wetton & Sons Ltd'' [1937] 2 KB 389
* ''Lloyds Bank Ltd v Bank Of America National Trust and Savings Association'' [1937] 2 KB 631

=== House of Lords ===

* ''[[HMS Thetis (N25)|Duncan v Cammell, Laird & Co Ltd]]'' [1942] AC 624
* ''[[William Joyce|Joyce]] v [[Director of Public Prosecutions]]'' [1946] AC 347 (dissenting)
* ''Adams v Naylor'' [1946] AC 543
* ''[[National Anti-Vivisection Society]] v [[Inland Revenue Commissioners]]'' [1948] AC 31 (dissenting)
* ''Franklin v Minister of Town and Country Planning'' [1948] AC 87
* ''[[Reading v Attorney-General]]'' [1951] AC 507

=== Privy Council ===

* ''[[Commonwealth v Bank of New South Wales|Commonwealth of Australia v Bank of New South Wales]]'' [1950] AC 235
* ''[[Winner v SMT (Eastern) Ltd|Attorney-General for Ontario v Israel Winner (t/a Mackenzie Coach Lines)]]'' [1954] AC 541

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{Hansard-contribs|mr-samuel-porter|Lord Porter}}
* {{NPG name|102499|Samuel Lowry Porter, Baron Porter}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Samuel}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:Law lords]] <!--only title-->
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]]
[[Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Members of the Inner Temple]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:British Army General List officers]]
[[Category:Life peers created by George VI]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People educated at The Perse School]]