View source for Hartley Shawcross

{{Short description|English barrister and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Shawcross
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GBE|PC|QC}}
| image               = Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross.png
| caption             = Shawcross being interviewed in 1954
| office              = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| primeminister       = [[Clement Attlee]]
| term_start          = 24 April 1951
| term_end            = 26 October 1951
| predecessor         = [[Harold Wilson]]
| successor           = [[Peter Thorneycroft]]
| office2             = [[Attorney-General for England]]
| primeminister2      = [[Clement Attlee]]
| term_start2         = 4 August 1945
| term_end2           = 24 April 1951
| predecessor2        = [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|Sir David Maxwell Fyfe]]
| successor2          = [[Sir Frank Soskice]]
| office3             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br> for [[St Helens (UK Parliament constituency)|St Helens]]
| term_start3         = 5 July 1945
| term_end3           = May 1958
| predecessor3        = [[William Albert Robinson]]
| successor3          = [[Leslie Spriggs]]
| office4             = Member of the [[House of Lords]]<br/>[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start4         = 14 February 1959
| term_end4           = 10 July 2003<br/>[[Life peer]]age
| birth_name          = Hartley William Shawcross
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1902|2|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Giessen]], [[Grand Duchy of Hesse]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2003|7|10|1902|2|4|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Cowbeech|Cowbeech, East Sussex]], England
| nationality         = British
| party               = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] (before 1959)
| otherparty          = [[Crossbencher]] (1959–2003)
| spouse              = {{Plainlist}}
* {{Marriage|Alberta Rosita Shyvers|1924|1943|end=died<!--by suicide-->}}
* {{Marriage|Joan Winifred Mather|1944|1974|end=died<!--by misadventure-->}}
* {{Marriage|Susanne Monique Huiskamp<br>|1997}}
{{endplainlist}}
| children            = 3 (by Mather; including [[William Shawcross|William]])
| education           = [[Dulwich College]]
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[London School of Economics]]|[[University of Geneva]]}}
| awards              = [[Knight Bachelor]] (1945)
}}

'''Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GBE|PC|QC}} (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003), known from 1945 to 1959 as '''Sir Hartley Shawcross''', was an English [[barrister]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] politician who served as the lead British prosecutor at the [[Nuremberg trials|Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal]]. He also served as Britain's principal delegate to the [[United Nations]] immediately after the [[Second World War]] and as [[Attorney General for England]].

== Early life ==
Hartley William Shawcross was born in [[Giessen, Germany]], elder son of British parents, John Shawcross, [[MA (Oxon)]] (1871–1966) and Hilda Constance (died 1942), daughter of G. Asser.<ref>Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 2594</ref> At this time, his father was teaching English at [[Giessen University]]. His younger brother, [[Christopher Shawcross|Christopher]] (1905–1973), was a barrister and Labour party politician.<ref>Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 2594</ref> Shawcross attended [[Dulwich College]], the [[London School of Economics]] and the [[University of Geneva]] and read for the Bar at [[Gray's Inn]], where he won [[first-class honours]].<ref>Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1999, p. 2594</ref>

==Career==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2016}}
[[File:Longines Chronicles with Hartley Shawcross 1954 ARC-96007.ogv|thumb|upright=1.2|Shawcross interviewed on CBS-TV's ''[[Longines Chronoscope]]'' (1954)]]
During his initial career as a barrister, Shawcross was part of the legal team hired by the colliery owners at the inquiry into the [[Gresford disaster|Gresford Colliery disaster]] in 1934, [[Stafford Cripps]] in counterpart representing the miners' union.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Walker |first1=Sir Henry, CBE LlD (Commissioner) |author-link1=Henry Walker (mines inspector) |last2=Brass |first2=John, MInstCE MIMinE (Assessor) |author-link2=John Brass (colliery manager) |last3=Jones |first3=Joseph, CBE JP (Assessor) |author-link3=Joseph Jones (trade unionist) |title=Reports on the causes of and circumstances attending the explosion which occurred at Gresford Colliery, Denbigh on 22nd September, 1934 |date=January 1937 |via=Durham Mining Museum |url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/ukreport/5358-01.htm |access-date=21 September 2018}}Section B of report.</ref>

He joined the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[St Helens (UK Parliament constituency)|St Helens]], [[Lancashire]], from 1945<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37238 |date=24 August 1945 |page=4294}}</ref> to [[1958 St Helens by-election|1958]], being appointed to be [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]] in 1945<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37222 |date=14 August 1945 |page=4135}}</ref> until 1951. In 1946, when debating the repeal of laws against [[Trade unions in the United Kingdom|trade unions]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], Shawcross allegedly said "We are the masters now",<ref>This is the wording usually quoted, and is attested by eyewitness [[Lord Bruce of Donington|Lord Bruce]] in a ''[[w:New Statesman|New Statesman]]'' [http://www.newstatesman.com/200307280001 article], but it is still a matter of dispute. For full details see [[Wikiquote]], ''[[q:Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross|Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross]]''.</ref> a phrase that came to haunt him.

He was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1945 upon his appointment as Attorney-General<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37243|date=28 August 1945|page=4345}}</ref> and named Chief Prosecutor for the United Kingdom at the [[Nuremberg trials]].

=== Nuremberg Trials ===
Shawcross's advocacy before the Nuremberg Trial was passionate. His most famous line was: "There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience".

He avoided the crusading{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} style of [[America]]n, [[Soviet]], and French prosecutors. Shawcross's opening speech, which lasted two days, 26 and 27 July 1946, sought to undermine any belief that the Nuremberg Trials were "victor's justice" in the sense of being revenge exacted against defeated foes. He focused on the [[rule of law]] and demonstrated that the laws that the defendants had broken, expressed in international treaties and agreements, were those to which prewar Germany had been a party. In his closing speech, he ridiculed any notion that any of the defendants could have remained ignorant of [[Aktion T4]], extermination of thousands of Germans because they were old or mentally ill. He used the same argument in respect of millions of other people "annihilated in the [[gas chamber]]s or by shooting" and maintained that each of the 22 defendants was a party to "common murder in its most ruthless forms".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96475852|title=NAZIS LEADERS LOSING HOPE|date=1946-07-29|work=Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 – 1954)|access-date=2020-01-03|pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/07-26-46.asp|title=Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal|year=1946|volume=19|pages=432–528}}</ref>

===Attorney-General and UN Factotum===
As [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]], he prosecuted [[William Joyce]] ("[[Lord Haw-Haw]]") and [[John Amery]] for [[treason]], [[Klaus Fuchs]] and [[Alan Nunn May]] for giving atomic secrets to the [[Soviet Union]], and [[John George Haigh]], 'the acid bath murderer'.<ref name = ODNB>{{cite ODNB|title = Shawcross, Hartley William, Baron Shawcross (1902–2003), barrister, politician, and businessman|last = Beloff|first = Michael|date = 2007|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/92268}}</ref>

From 1945 to 1949, he was Britain's principal delegate to the [[United Nations]] and was involved in the official adoption of the [[Flag of the United Nations]] in 1946,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail.jsp?id=800/80009&key=26&query=flags&so=0&sf=date|title=United Nations Flag Approved by General Assembly's Legal Committee|website=United Nations Photo}}</ref> but he was recalled in 1948 to lead for the government's interest at the [[Lynskey tribunal]]. In 1951, he briefly served as [[President of the Board of Trade]] until the Labour government's defeat in the election of that year.<ref name = ODNB/>

[[Shawcross principle|Shawcross lent his name to a Parliamentary principle]], in a defence of his conduct regarding an [[Strike action#United Kingdom|illegal strike]], that the Attorney-General "is not to be put, and is not put, under pressure by his colleagues in the matter" of whether or not to establish [[criminal proceedings]].<ref name="hsp">{{cite journal |last1=Shawcross |first1=Hartley |title=Prosecutions (Attorney-General's Responsibility) |journal=Hansard |date=29 January 1951 |volume=House of Commons Debates |issue=c681 |url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1951-01-29a.679.0}}</ref><ref name="rhhsp">{{cite news |last1=Heintzman |first1=Ralph |title=The real meaning of the SNC-Lavalin affair |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-real-meaning-of-the-snc-lavalin-affair/ |publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc |date=16 May 2020}}</ref>

In 1951, he replaced [[Harold Wilson]] as President of the Board of Trade after Wilson and the [[Bevanite]] members of the Cabinet resigned in protest of the introduction of [[prescription charges]] for the [[National Health Service]] by Chancellor of the Exchequer [[Hugh Gaitskell]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thorpe |first=Andrew |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 |title=A History of the British Labour Party |date=1997 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |isbn=978-0-333-56081-5 |location=London |pages=133 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25305-0 |ref=none}}</ref>

===Return to opposition===
Shawcross ended his law career in 1951, the same year as the defeat of the second [[Attlee ministry]]. He was expected to become a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]], earning him the nickname "Sir Shortly Floorcross", but instead he remained true to his Labour roots.<ref name = ODNB/>

During the committal hearing for the suspected serial killer doctor [[John Bodkin Adams]] in January 1957, he was seen dining with the defendant's suspected lover, [[Roland Gwynne|Sir Roland Gwynne]] (Mayor of Eastbourne from 1929–31), and [[Lord Goddard]], the [[Lord Chief Justice]], at a hotel in Lewes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cullen|first=Pamela V.|title=A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams|location=London, UK|publisher=Elliott & Thompson|year=2006|isbn=978-1-904027-19-5}}</ref> The meeting added to concerns that the Adams trial was the subject of concerted judicial and political interference.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

Shawcross resigned from [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in 1958, saying he was tired of party politics.

===Elevation===
Shawcross was made one of Britain's first [[life peer]]s on 14 February 1959 as '''Baron Shawcross''', of [[Friston, East Sussex|Friston]] in the [[County of Sussex]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41637|date=17 February 1959|page=1164}}</ref> and sat in the [[House of Lords]] as a [[crossbencher]].

=== Defending press freedom ===
In 1961, he was appointed the chairman of the second [[Royal Commission on the Press]]. In 1967 he became one of the directors of ''[[The Times]]'' responsible for ensuring its editorial independence. He resigned on being appointed chairman of the [[Press Council (UK)|Press Council]] in 1974.<ref name=TelegraphObit>{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Lord Shawcross|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1435769/Lord-Shawcross.html|access-date=17 July 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=11 July 2003}}</ref> 

From 1974 to 1978, he was chairman of the [[Press Council (UK)|Press Council]] and is described as "forthright in his condemnation both of journalists who committed excesses and of proprietors who profited from them" and as a "doughty defender of press freedom".<ref name=TelegraphObit/> In October 1974, he poured scorn on a Labour Party pamphlet that recommended the application of "internal democracy" to editorial policy, saying "This means that... there would be some sort of committee consisting at the best of a mixture of van drivers, press operators, electricians and the rest, with no doubt a few journalists, but more probably composed of trade union officials, to deal with editorial policy."<ref name=TelegraphObit />

In 1983, Shawcross chaired a Tribunal of Enquiry to handle a protest over the outcome of the [[1983 British Saloon Car Championship]].

=== Chancellor of the University of Sussex ===
From 1965 to 1985 Shawcross was Chancellor of the [[University of Sussex]].

==Later years==
In the [[1974 New Year Honours]], Lord Shawcross was appointed a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] (GBE).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=46162|date=1 January 1974|page=7 |supp=y}}</ref>

Shawcross held a number of company directorships including with [[EMI]], [[Rank Hovis MacDougall]], Caffyns Motors Ltd, Morgan et Cie SA, and [[Times Newspapers]], and chairman of [[Upjohn|Upjohn & Co Ltd]]. He had served as chairman of the [[International Chamber of Commerce]]'s Commission on Unethical Practices and of [[J.P. Morgan & Co.|Morgan Guaranty Trust Company]]'s Internal Advisory Council.<ref name=debrett>{{cite book|editor-last=Mosley|editor-first=Charles |title=Debrett's Handbook 1982, Distinguished People in British Life|year=1982|publisher=Debrett's Peerage Limited|page=1405|isbn=0-905649-38-9}}</ref>

In the 1980s, Shawcross was sympathetic towards [[Margaret Thatcher]] and the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]], but never joined another political party.<ref name = ODNB/>

==Philanthropy and awards==
In 1957, he was among a group of eminent British lawyers who founded [[JUSTICE]], the human rights and law reform organisation and he became its first chairman, a position he held until 1972.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lord Shawcross|newspaper=[[The Times]] |language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/lord-shawcross-qpcv873fc02|date=11 July 2003|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> He was instrumental in the foundation of the [[University of Sussex]] and served as chancellor of the university from 1965–85.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

He was the President of the charity Attend<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.attend.org.uk/about-us/people-we-honour-0/attend-vips |title = Attend VIPs &#124; Attend}}</ref> (then National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1962–72.

== Personal life ==
[[File:Hartley Shawcross Gravestone.jpg|thumb|Lord Shawcross's gravestone – Jevington, East Sussex.]]
Lord Shawcross was married three times. His first wife, Alberta Rosita Shyvers (m. 24 May 1924), suffered from [[multiple sclerosis]] and died by [[suicide]] on 30 December 1943.<ref name = ODNB/>

His second wife, Joan Winifred Mather (m. 21 September 1944), died in a riding accident on the [[Sussex Downs]] on 26 January 1974. They had three children: the author and historian [[William Shawcross]], Hume Shawcross and Dr Joanna Shawcross.<ref name = ODNB/>

At the age of 95, he married Susanne Monique (née Jansen), formerly wife of Gerald B. Huiskamp,<ref>Burke's Peerage 1999, vol. 2, p. 2594</ref> on 18 April 1997 in [[Gibraltar]]. His family had opposed the marriage out of concern for Shawcross' declining abilities in old age, and had him placed under the supervision of the [[Court of Protection]]; they won a court ruling "after the humiliation of medical and psychological tests" concluded Shawcross was "was incapable of rational decision", but Shawcross and his future wife eloped to Gibraltar, where the courts ruled the opposite.<ref name = ODNB/><ref>{{cite web | last1=Vat | first1=Dan van der | title=Lord Shawcross of Friston | work=The Guardian | date=11 July 2003 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jul/11/guardianobituaries.obituaries }}</ref> Lady Shawcross died on 2 March 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Peerage News: The Baroness Shawcross|url=http://peeragenews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-baroness-shawcross.html|date=2013-03-06}}</ref>

Shawcross was a member of the [[Royal Yacht Squadron]] and the [[Royal Cornwall Yacht Club]].<ref name=debrett/> From 1947 to 1960 he was the owner of ''Vanity V'', a [[12-metre class]] racing yacht designed by [[William Fife]] to the Third International Rule, built in 1936, which he kept at his home in Cornwall.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Page on the yacht "Vanity V" |url=https://12mrclass.com/12mr-database/vanityv-k-5/ |access-date=5 February 2024 |website=Website of the International Twelve Metre Association (ITMA)|date=20 January 2020 }}</ref> A later skipper of the boat, John Crill, recalls being told that Lord Shawcross, "when the election was due in about 1951, had ''Vanity V'' repainted with a vast 'Vote Labour' banner all the way along her topsides".

Lord Shawcross died on 10 July 2003 at home at [[Cowbeech]], East Sussex, at the age of 101 and is buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Jevington, East Sussex.<ref>{{cite web | last1=White | first1=Michael | url=https://theguardian.com/politics/2003/jul/11/uk.labour4 | title=Lord Shawcross dies at 101 &#124; Politics &#124; the Guardian | work=The Guardian | date=11 July 2003 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1218017.stm|title = Nazi war crimes prosecutor dies|date = 10 July 2003}}</ref><ref>https://www.lovethesouthdowns.org.uk/places/st-andrews-jevington Retrieved 23 September 2024</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox emblem wide
|image = Hartley_Shawcross_Coat_of_Arms.svg
|escutcheon = Per pale Azure and Gules on a saltire between four annulets Argent an ermine spot Sable.
|crest = Upon the battlements of a tower Proper a martlet Gules holding in the beak a cross paty fitchy Or.
|supporters = Dexter a lion Argent gorged with a chain Sable pendant therefrom an escutcheon also Sable charged with a balance Or sinister a griffin Sable armed and langued Azure gorged with a chain pendent therefrom a portcullis Or.
|orders = Insignia, [[Collar (order)|collar]], and [[circlet]] of a Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the British Empire|Most Excellent Order of the British Empire]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2003 |page=1461}}</ref>}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{cite book | author=Shawcross, H. | title=Life Sentence | year=1995 | isbn=978-0-09-474980-1 | publisher=Constable | location=London }}

== External links ==
* {{wikiquote inline|Hartley Shawcross}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-hartley-shawcross | Hartley Shawcross }}
* {{NPG name}}
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lord-shawcross-36741.html Obituary, ''The Independent'', 11 July 2003 by James Morton]
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.96007|description="Longines Chronoscope with Sir Hartley Shawcross"}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0093z01 Appearance on Desert Island Discs (7 July 1991)]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/016424}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[St Helens (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for St Helens]]
| years = [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]–[[1958 St Helens by-election|1958]]
| before = [[William Albert Robinson]]
| after = [[Leslie Spriggs]]
}}
{{s-legal}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Attorney-General for England]]
| years = 1945–1951
| before = [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|Sir David Maxwell Fyfe]]
| after = [[Sir Frank Soskice]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box
| title = [[President of the Board of Trade]]
| years = April–October 1951
| before = [[Harold Wilson]]
| after = [[Peter Thorneycroft]]
}}
{{s-media}}
{{succession box
| title = Chairman of the [[Press Council (UK)|Press Council]]
| before = [[Edward Pearce, Baron Pearce|Edward Pearce]]
| after = [[Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen|Patrick Neill]]
| years = 1974–1978
}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box
| title = Senior Privy Counsellor
| years = 1988–2003
| with = [[William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel|The Earl of Listowel]] (1988–1997)
| before = [[The Lord Balfour of Inchrye]]
| after = [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|The Duke of Edinburgh]]
}}
{{S-bef
| before = [[The Lord Shackleton]]
}}
{{S-ttl
| title = Senior life peer
| years = 1994–2003
}}
{{S-aft
| after = [[Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont|The Lord Chalfont]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Presidents of the Board of Trade}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawcross, Hartley William}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Dulwich College]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Attorneys general for England and Wales]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:English men centenarians]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Board of Trade]]
[[Category:Prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Shawcross family|Hartley Shawcross]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1955–1959]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Sussex]]