Rupert Cross

Who was Rupert Cross?

Sir Alfred Rupert Neale Cross was a prominent English lawyer and academic. He was Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

He was also completely blind from the age of 1, as a result of cancer of the eyes, and, before his distinguished legal career, was already well known as a chess player. As an undergraduate at Worcester College, Oxford, he represented Oxford University four times on the top board in the prestigious annual Varsity chess match against Cambridge University. He played several times in the top section of the British Chess Championship in the 1930s.