Joseph Cantley

Sir Joseph Donaldson Cantley, (8 August 1910 – 6 January 1993) was an English barrister and later a High Court judge. He is most notable for presiding over the trial of Jeremy Thorpe in 1979.

Early life Cantley was born in Manchester, the elder son of Dr Joseph Cantley, of Crumpsall, and his wife Georgina Kean. His father was a general practitioner. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and then studied law at Manchester University and the Inns of Court School of Law. In 1933, he came top in his bar finals examination, gaining first-class honours and the Certificate of Honour from the Council of Legal Education. He was then called to the bar from the Middle Temple.

Legal career Cantley became a barrister in Manchester, serving a pupillage under Denis Gerrard, and then practised on the Northern Circuit. The sketch was written and delivered shortly after the trial and was, according to Freeman and Penrose, "actually not that different from the original." The nine-minute opus, "Entirely a Matter for You", is considered to be one of the finest works of Cook's career. Cook and show producer Martin Lewis brought out an album on Virgin Records entitled Here Comes the Judge: Live of the live performance together with three studio tracks that further lampooned the Thorpe trial. Notwithstanding marked and widespread public disquiet at the biased summing-up in the Thorpe trial, Cantley was considered as Presiding Judge on the South Eastern Circuit, but declined in order to become Treasurer of Middle Temple in 1981.

Personal life In December 1966, at Saffron Walden, Cantley married Hilda Goodwin Gerrard, born Jones, the widow of his former pupil-master Sir Denis Gerrard, who had died in January 1965. He gained one step-son. His wife Hilda died on 11 September 1995, aged 95.