James Burge
Charles George James Burge,QC(8 October 1906 – 6 September 1990) was an English criminal law barrister, remembered for his defence ofStephen Wardin theProfumo affairin 1963. He is also remembered asJohn Mortimer's original inspiration for the fictional barrister Horace Rumpole inRumpole of the Bailey.[1]
The son of George Burge, later ofMasterton,New Zealand and stepson ofMaude Burge,Burge was educated atCheltenham College,then atChrist's College, Cambridgeas an undergraduate commoner. He wascalled to the Barfrom theInner Templein 1932.[2][3][4]He practised in the chambers of R. E. Seaton, Q.C., an established "criminal set" in Queen Elizabeth Building, Temple, London.[5]He succeeded Seaton as Prosecuting Counsel to the Post Office at theCentral Criminal Courtin 1943. During theSecond World War,Burge reached the rank ofsquadron leaderin theR.A.F.[2][4]
In 1963, Burge defendedStephen Wardin the Profumo affair, in the course of which Ward was prosecuted for living on earnings from prostitution. Burge, known as a mercurial Old Bailey junior, never quite recovered from the professional consequences of defending him in the scandal. Ward took an overdose of sleeping tablets near the end of the trial, he was found guilty of some charges in his absence, but died without regaining consciousness. It was Burge to whomMandy Rice-Daviesmade her famous reply "Well he would, wouldn't he?"
In 1965, Burge was appointedQueen's Counsel;[6]he was made abencherof the Inner Temple in 1971, and served as arecorderfrom 1972 to 1975.[2][3]
Author and fellow barrister John Mortimer stated on several occasions that there were elements of Burge, especially Burge's independence and total dedication to often unprepossessing clients, that he incorporated into the famous fictional characterRumpole of the Bailey.Mortimer's 2009 obituary inThe Daily Telegraphconfirmed that Rumpole was, in part, based on a chance meeting in court with James Burge:
In the early 1970s Mortimer was appearing for somefootball hooliganswhen James Burge, with whom he was sharing the defence, told him: "I'm really ananarchistat heart, but I don't think even my darling old PrincePeter Kropotkinwould have approved of this lot. "" And there, "Mortimer realised," I had Rumpole. "[1]
He died at age 83, on 6 September 1990 and wascrematedinXàbia,Spain. He had married Elizabeth, daughter of Commander Scott Williams,R.N.,ofDorset,in 1938; they had two sons and a daughter.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Sir John Mortimer: QC who took on liberal causes but found most fame as the creator of the fictional barrister Rumpole".The Daily Telegraph.London. 16 January 2009.Retrieved6 September2012.
- ^abcdWho Was Who: A Companion to Who's Who, Containing the Biographies of Those who Died, 1981–1990,A. & C. Black, p. 105
- ^abThe London Gazette,issue 43636, Tuesday, 27 April 1965, p. 4127
- ^abThe Law Times and Journal of Property,vol. 196, Office of the Law Times, p. 30, 1943
- ^Nutting, John (8 August 1994)."Obituary: Richard Du Cann".The Independent.Retrieved29 June2019.
- ^Robertson, Geoffrey (13 November 2017)."Lord Hutchinson of Lullington obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved7 January2020.