Celebrate the Lives

Her Honour Shirley Anwyl KC

10 December 1940–15 February 2025

Master Anwyl was born and brought up in South Africa during the apartheid years. Discussing the foremost influences on her life in 100 Years of Women at the Bar, Master Anwyl describes “Both my parents were in the minority of the white population and believed in the equality of all people. It was my mother who had the greatest influence on my life, in the early years demonstrating by example tolerance of, courtesy towards and interest in all with whom she came into contact”.

At the age of ten, Master Anwyl wanted to become an actress and was sent to speech and drama classes on the condition that, when she left school, she would go to university before making a final decision about her career. She took courses in Latin and Roman Law and went on to become the first woman to complete an LLB at Rhodes University, and the first woman to be called to the Bar in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa in 1963.

Master Anwyl was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1966. In 1979, she became the 16th woman to take Silk. Her judicial career included serving as a Recorder from 1981 to 1995 and as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Family Division from 1981 to 1999. She was also appointed a Circuit Judge in 1995 and served as Resident Judge at Woolwich Crown Court from 1999 to 2007. She served as Chair of the Barristers’ Benevolent Association from 1989 to 1995, and she was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts from 1989. Master Anwyl was granted the Freedom of the City of London in 1994 and became a Liveryman of the Fruiterers’ Company in 1996. In 1985, Master Anwyl was elected as a Governing Bencher of the Inn. Her two sons survive her.

Richard Clegg KC

28 June 1938–7 August 2024

Master Clegg was called to the Bar in 1960, took Silk in 1979 and served as a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1978 to 1993. He also served as Chair of the Northwest section of the Bow Group from 1964 to 1966 and was Vice Chair of the Group during the same period. He also chaired the Winston Circle from 1965 to 1966 and was President of the Heywood and Royton Conservative Association from 1965 to 1968.

Master Clegg wrote several publications including Forged by Fire (2009), a memoir of personal reflections. He also published poetry, including The Secret Room (2013), Give Me a Vision (2014), Shadow Across the Moon (2014), and The Curlew Cries (2015).

Master Clegg was elected as a Bencher of the Inn in 1985. Beloved husband of Veronica, and much-loved father and grandfather, he died suddenly at home, aged 86 years.

Sir Brian Jenkins GBE

3 December 1935–25 November 2024

Master Jenkins was born in 1935 in Beckenham, Kent. During the Second World War, his family were evacuated to Scarborough with his father serving as a Major in the Royal Artillery.

Between school and Trinity College, Oxford, he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in Gibraltar for his National Service.

Master Jenkins was a retired English chartered accountant and businessman who served as President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1985–86; Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1991–92; Chairman of Woolwich PLC between 1995–2000; Deputy Chairman of Barclays Bank PLC between 2000–04 and Prior of the Order of St John and Chairman of St John Ambulance between 2004–10.

Master Jenkins was elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Inn in 1991.

Sir Neil Butterfield

28 September 1942–8 April 2025

Master Butterfield was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1965. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1985 and served as a Recorder from 1978–95. He led the Western Circuit from 1992–95 and served as its Presiding Judge from 1997–2000. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, in 1995, and was knighted that same year.

Master Butterfield served on the bench until his retirement in 2012. Following his judicial career, he continued to serve in several public roles, including as a member of the Parole Board from 2003–15 (Vice Chairman from 2005), and as a Board Member of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority from 2013–16. He also served as a Trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth from 2014. In recognition of his service to the Church, he was appointed a Knight of St Gregory in 2017.

Master Butterfield was elected a Governing Bencher of the Inn in 1992.

Robin De Wilde KC

Born on 12 July 1945, Robin De Wilde was called to the Bar in 1971, appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993 and elected a Bencher in 1996. He was a leading Silk in professional negligence, particularly personal injury and clinical negligence, including cerebral palsy and product liability. He chaired the Professional Negligence Bar Association from 1995–97, becoming Honorary Vice President in 1998. He sat as a Recorder between 2000–04. Master De Wilde was Chairman of the Ogden Working Party, 2003–17, and was responsible for the 5th, 6th and 7th editions of the Ogden Tables, in collaboration with actuaries from the Government Actuary’s Department. Master de Wilde also worked with the actuarial profession in his professional practice and was a strong advocate for co-operation between actuaries and the legal profession, shaping the practice of the courts in this field. He was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 2016.

From 2001–07, Master de Wilde was Master of the Yearbook, later serving on the Inn’s Investment Sub-Committee and Archives Committee. In a collaboration with Dr Johnson’s House Trust, he was instrumental in the Inn publishing in 2010 a series of essays by Lord Bingham entitled Dr Johnson and the Law.

Master De Wilde is survived by his wife, Patricia, and their three sons.

His Honour Denis Orde

28 August 1932–28 December 2024

Master Orde was a former army officer and Crown Court judge. After serving in the Army from 1950–52 he continued in the Territorial Army from 1952–64, becoming a Captain in 1958. He was called to the Bar in 1956 and was awarded the Profumo Price in 1959. He served as a Deputy High Court Judge (Civil) from 1983–2005 and as resident Judge at Durham Crown Court from 1986–2001. He chaired the Criminal Justice Liaison Committee for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham (1995–2000), the Criminal Justice Strategy Committee for Durham County (2000–01) and served as President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Restricted Cases from 2001 to 2005.

Master Orde authored Nelson’s Mediterranean Command (1997, repr. 2014) and In the Shadow of Nelson: The Life of Admiral Lord Collingwood (2008, repr. 2019). He also contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Master Orde’s article, Nelson goes to Law, can be read in the 2014–15 edition of the Yearbook.

Master Orde was elected a Bencher of the Inn in 1998. He is survived by his daughters Georgina, also a member of this Inn, and Philippa.

Sir Jeffery Bowman FCA

3 April 1925–18 February 2025

Master Bowman was educated at Winchester College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he earned a First-Class Honours degree in Law. After serving in the Royal Horse Guards from 1953–55, he began a long and influential career at Price Waterhouse, eventually becoming Senior Partner and Joint Chairman of the Price Waterhouse World Firm. Further to this, he served as Chairman of the Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust and Masthead Insurance Underwriting PLC, and for more than 20 years he acted as Auditor to the Duchy of Cornwall.

He was Chairman of the Court of Appeal Civil Division Review from 1996–97, and of the Crown Office Review from 1999–2000. He was a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and a Governor of Brentwood School. He was Knighted in 1991.

Master Bowman was elected as an Honorary Bencher of the Inn in 1998. An active member of the Inn, he sat on the Inn’s Executive Committee from 2002–09 bringing to the Inn his extensive experience from the financial world.

Dr Pehr Gyllenhammar

28 April 1935–21 November 2024

Master Gyllenhammar was born in April 1935. He completed his military service from 1954–55 and became a sergeant. He then went on to graduate from Lund University with a degree in law in 1959 and worked an assistant lawyer at law firm Mannheimer & Zetterlöf in Gothenburg and then, in 1960, at Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens in New York City. He studied maritime law in the United States and from 1968 aspects of Industrialism at the Centre d’Etudes Industrielles in Geneva.

Master Gyllenhammar was Chief Executive Officer and Volvo Chair between 1970–94. After Volvo, Master Gyllenhammar joined the boards of numerous companies, including Swedish investment company Kinnevik AB, the news agency Reuters, Rothschild Europe, and insurance company Commercial Union (now Aviva), becoming Chair in 1998. He was also a senior advisor of Lazard Frères & Co LLC in New York City.

A key figure in equestrian sports, he founded the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Jumping World Cup series and championed Volvo’s sponsoring of global competitions.

Master Gyllenhammar was made Commander of the Ordre National du Mérite in 1980 and, in 1987, he was awarded the Légion d’honneur. In 2001, he was elected an Honorary Bencher of the Inn. He is survived by his third wife, Lee, whom he married in 2013, and by his five children.

Terence Coghlan KC

17 August 1945–18 November 2024

Master Coghlan was called to the Bar in 1968 and took Silk in 1993. Highly regarded in Silk, Terence Coghlan focused his time on legal problems arising from medical matters, in particular clinical negligence. He was experienced in handling landmark cases for defendants as well as acting on behalf of health authorities, trusts, practitioners and health defence organisations.

Master Coghlan was appointed as a Bencher of the Inn in 2004 and served in numerous key roles – including as Chair of the Temple Church Committee, where he fostered collaboration between the Inns and encouraged continued amity and commitment to the Inns’ mutual goals. As a Trustee and Director of the Temple Music Foundation, he was active in supplementing the Church’s ecclesiastical work with world-class programmes of music, which he and his wife, Angie, regularly attended.

An active scholarship interviewer, he ensured that the best and brightest new members of the Inn, regardless of their background, have the financial means to access the profession. As Master of the Cellar, he shared his expertise in wine, enhancing many of the Inn’s dinners over the years. During his time on the Archive Committee, a number of Book Prize Awards, of which Master HRH The Princess Royal is Patron, were organised.

Sir Brian Williamson CBE MA

16 February 1945–17 October 2024

Master Williamson started his career in the mid-1970s trading futures for Gerrard and National in Chicago. He became a pivotal figure in London’s financial sector, serving twice as Chairman of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (Liffe), where he introduced the American ‘open outcry’ trading system to the City in 1982.

Knighted in 2000, Master Williamson was appointed as an Honorary Bencher of the Inn in 2005 and served as a member of the Investment Sub-Committee from 2006. In 2007, he was inducted in the Futures Industry Association’s Hall of Fame to commemorate his contribution to the global futures and options industry. Famed equally for an adventurous spirit, his interests included tobogganing and high-altitude ballooning.

James Turner KC

23 November 1952–21 February 2025

Born in 1952, James Turner’s first experience of the law was accompanying his widowed mother to the Temple, where counsel advised in relation to the settlement of the fatal accident claim following his father’s tragic death in the Hither Green train crash in 1967. This profound experience fired his interest in the law and a desire to, as described by his son, “fight injustice wherever it raises its ugly head.”

Called to the Bar in 1976, James Turner practised from 1 King’s Bench Walk, initially becoming known for his detailed knowledge of the technical elements of criminal law. He was a contributing editor of Archbold: Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice from 1992–2018.

After taking Silk in 1998, his practice became more focused on family law. Throughout his career, Master Turner was involved in many of the landmark family law cases of the past two decades.

Elected as a Barrister Governing Bencher of the Inn in 2006, Master Turner served as a member of the Executive Committee from 2009–2011. As described by Alexander Chandler KC, Master Turner was “kind, personable, with an unrivalled store of funny legal stories and – remarkably for a man of such talent – not a hint of arrogance.”

He is survived by his widow Simone, his children, and eleven grandchildren.

The Right Honourable Lord Justice William Davis

20 June 1954–7 June 2025

Master Davis was called to the Bar in 1975 and practised in Birmingham where his work consisted primarily of criminal and personal injury cases. He was appointed as an Assistant Recorder in 1992, a Recorder in 1995 and took Silk in 1998. He was Head of St Philips Chambers from 2004–08, when he was appointed a Circuit Judge, later becoming Resident Judge at Birmingham Crown Court.

Master Davis joined the High Court Bench in 2014 and served as Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit from 2016–19. In 2021, he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and held a number of senior judicial roles, including Judicial Lead on Youth Justice (2014–22), Director of Criminal Training at the Judicial College (2014–19), and Chair of the Sentencing Council from 2022 until his death.

Master Davis was elected a Governing Bencher of the Inn in 2007 and served as a member of the Scholarships Committee between 2009 and 2010. In recent years he was a regular attender at Call Nights.

Sir William Davis died suddenly at home in Warwickshire on 7 June, leaving his wife Ginny and children, Rosie and Ralph.

Professor The Honourable George Hampel AM KC

4 October 1933–8 October 2024

Master Hampel was born before the Second World War and escaped with his immediate family from Poland to Russia when the Germans invaded Poland. Many of his extended family did not survive the Holocaust. Towards the end of the war, he and his mother escaped from Russia to Paris and then to Australia.

After studying in Melbourne, he was called to the Bar in Victoria in 1954. His early practice focused on criminal law, extending from the Magistrates’ Court to the Supreme Court; he was later admitted to the Bars of several states and the Bar of England and Wales.

He defended John Stonehouse in his extradition proceedings in 1975 and came to London to represent him at a successful bail application in the Hight Court. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 1983–2000.

He is best known for his contribution to advocacy training; he was the first professor of advocacy to be appointed worldwide. The ‘Hampel Method’ was adopted by many common law countries for the teaching of advocacy and was introduced by him to the four Inns when he led a series of ‘train the trainer’ events here in the 1980’s. He was a strong supporter of advocacy training within the Inn and was elected as an Academic Bencher in 2013. He and his wife, Academic Bencher Master Felicity Hampel, also an advocacy trainer, trained war crime prosecutors at the Hague.

Catherine Callaghan KC

23 July 1971–13 August 2025

Master Callaghan was called to the Bar by The Inner Temple in November 1999 and joined Blackstone Chambers where she practised for 26 years in public and regulatory law, civil liberties and employment law, taking Silk in 2018. She served as a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of Counsel from 2013–18 and was the Chair of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) from 2022–23.

Master Callaghan was elected a Governing Bencher of the Inn in 2018. She was a member of the Scholarships Committee, served on the Executive Committee from 2021, and latterly she was a Trustee of the Temple Church Trust.

She is survived by her husband, Andreas Gledhill KC.