Record

CodeDS/UK/7284
NameMaxwell Fyfe; Sir; David (1900-1967); 1st Earl of Kilmuir GCVO PC KC; British Conservative politician, lawyer, judge
Variations of NameDavid Patrick Maxwell Fyfe
Dates1900-1967
GenderMale
BiographyDavid Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir, GCVO, PC, KC, (29 May 1900 – 27 January 1967), known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as The Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combined an industrious and precocious legal career with political ambitions that took him to the offices of Solicitor General, Attorney General, Home Secretary and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
One of the prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials, he was instrumental in drafting the European Convention on Human Rights. However, he was also a controversial Home Secretary who refused clemency to commute Derek Bentley's highly controversial death sentence. His political ambitions were ultimately dashed in Harold Macmillan's cabinet reshuffle of July 1962.

Related Events

Add to My Items