William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
(1883-1962), JudgeSitter in 10 portraits
Birkett left school at fifteen and started working as an apprentice in one of his father's shops. Having become a Methodist preacher, he was encouraged to go to Cambridge and read theology. Once there, he decided instead to study law; by the 1930s he had gained a reputation as one of the foremost advocates of his time. He was connected with many famous legal cases, perhaps the best remembered of which was the 1934 murder trial in which he secured the acquittal of Tony Mancini in the face of overwhelming evidence (and a later confession). Birkett became a judge in 1941 and in 1945 he was selected as the alternate judge to Lord Justice Lawrence at the Nuremberg trials of German war criminals.
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Sir David Low
pencil, circa late 1950s-1962
NPG 4529(28)
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Sir David Low
pencil, circa late 1950s-1962
NPG 4529(29)
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Sir David Low
pencil, circa late 1950s-1962
NPG 4529(30)
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Sir David Low
pencil, circa late 1950s-1962
NPG 4529(31)
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Elliott & Fry
bromide print, 1951
NPG x86371
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Anthea Sieveking
bromide print, circa 1960
NPG x199111
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Elliott & Fry
half-plate negative
NPG x81933
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Elliott & Fry
whole-plate glass negative, 1951
NPG x100309
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Elliott & Fry
whole-plate glass negative, 1951
NPG x100310
William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett
by Elliott & Fry
whole-plate glass negative, 1951
NPG x100311
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Millie Storey
09 July 2019, 14:10
He’s my great great great uncle :). I would give you any information I knew about him but unfortunately my granny is dead and she was the one who knew lots about him.