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Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert

(1841-1924), Parliamentary draftsman, administrator in India and legal writer

Sitter in 4 portraits

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Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, by Sydney Prior Hall - NPG 2245

Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert

by Sydney Prior Hall
pencil, published in The Graphic 2 February 1889
NPG 2245

Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, by Oscar Gustav Rejlander - NPG x12117

Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert

by Oscar Gustav Rejlander
albumen carte-de-visite, early-mid 1870s
NPG x12117

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Paul Evans

21 July 2021, 15:36

After serving as First Parliamentary Counsel (a civil service post) Courtenay Ilbert was appointed as Clerk of the House of Commons in 1902 and served in that role through the First World War to retire in 1921 at the age of 80 (no doubt to the frustration of his colleagues impatient for promotion). He was the author of the bill which became the Parliament Act 1911 - the most significant constitutional statute of the 20th century. When serving in India he had drafted what was known as the "Ilbert Bill" which allowed Indian judges to try and sentence British (white) subjects, a revolutionary step opposed by many conservative imperialists. Although Ilbert defended his original draft the Bill was much watered down, but the organised opposition to its dismemberment is credited with leading to the creation of the Congress Party which led India to independence.