Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin

Who was Alfred Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin?

Alfred Tristram Lawrence, 1st Baron Trevethin PC DL was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1921 to 1922.

Lawrence was the eldest son of David Lawrence, a surgeon, of Pontypool, Monmouthshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Morgan Williams. He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1869. He established a successful legal practice although he did not become a Queen's Counsel until 1897. Lawrence was recorder for the Royal Borough of Windsor from 1885 to 1904, when he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice.

In 1912, styled Justice A.T. Lawrence, he establish the legality of the football league's retain-and-transfer system with his judgement in the Kingaby case. Former Aston Villa player Herbert Kingaby had brought legal proceedings against his old club for preventing him from playing. Erroneous strategy by Kingaby's counsel resulted in the suit being dismissed.

In April 1921, aged 77, he was made Lord Chief Justice of England.