Frederick Lawton

Sir Frederick Horace Lawton (21 December 1911 – 3 February 2001) was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Justice of Appeal from 1972 to 1986.

Early life and career

Frederick Lawton was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of William John Lawton and Ethel, née Hanley. His father, a former insurance agent, had joined the Prison Service, and became Governor of Wandsworth Prison, the first prison governor to rise from the ranks. He was educated at Battersea Grammar School and then at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he took first-class honours in part one of the History tripos and an upper second-class honours in part two of the Law tripos.

After flirting with Communism there, Lawton joined the British Union of Fascists and founded the Cambridge University Fascist Association.

Early legal career

Lawton was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1935, and joined the chambers of Norman Birkett — 1 Brick Court. As a junior barrister, he defended members of the BUF charged under the Public Order Act 1936. Around that time he converted to Catholicism, which became an important part of his life.

Lawton was also involved in the early appeals of the Guildford Four.