Frank Douglas MacKinnon

Sir Frank Douglas MacKinnon (11 February 1871 – 23 January 1946) was an English lawyer, judge and writer, the only High Court judge to be appointed during the First Labour Government.

Early life and legal practice Born in Highgate, London, the eldest son of 7 children of Benjamin Thomas, a Lloyd's underwriter and Katherine née Edwards, he attended Highgate School and Trinity College, Oxford, graduating in classics (1892) and literae humaniores (1894). MacKinnon was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1897 and became a pupil of Thomas Edward Scrutton where he was a contemporary of James Richard Atkin, later to become Lord Atkin. When Scrutton became a QC in 1901, MacKinnon benefited from Scrutton's former junior practice in commercial law. MacKinnon's brother, Sir Percy Graham MacKinnon (1872–1956) was, from time to time, chairman of Lloyd's of London and his family connections helped build his practice. The appointment was made in some haste.

Lord Normand, the defendant's advocate, always insisted that MacKinnon's allegation was untrue.

Trials as judge Southern Foundries (1926) Ltd v Shirlaw 2 KB 206 – in which he defined the "officious bystander test" for implied contractual terms.

Other interests MacKinnon was an enthusiast for the writing and culture of the eighteenth century and, in particular, the work of Doctor Johnson. He wrote extensively on the period. He also considered Victorian architecture to have ruined much of what came before. When the Temple Church was bombed during The Blitz, he welcomed it with mixed feelings:

Never interested in party politics, MacKinnon was president of the Average Adjusters' Association (1935), of the Johnson Society of Lichfield (1933), and of the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society, chairman of Buckinghamshire quarter sessions, and member of the Historical Manuscripts Commission.

MacKinnon was a keen walker, climbing Snowdon on two consecutive days in February 1931 when aged almost 60.

Personal "In appearance MacKinnon possessed bushy eyebrows, penetrating eyes, a pronounced angular nose, and firm mouth." His daughter, son-in-law and young grandchild were lost aboard the Almeda Star, torpedoed in 1941. His son became bursar of Eton College. Following a sudden heart attack, he died in Charing Cross Hospital.

Honours Inner Temple: Bencher (1923); Treasurer (1945); Knighted (1924); Honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford (1931) Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries