Gilbert Beyfus facts for kids
Gilbert Hugh Beyfus (1885–1960) was a famous English lawyer. He was known for representing many well-known people, including the entertainer Liberace and zoo owner John Aspinall. Gilbert Beyfus became a lawyer in 1908 and continued working until he passed away in 1960. Many of his important cases involved family law, defending people against false accusations, and understanding the rules about games of chance in the UK.
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Gilbert Beyfus's Early Life
Gilbert Beyfus's parents were Emmie Marguerite Ruth Plumsted and Alfred Beyfus, who was also a lawyer. His grandfather, Solomon Beyfus, was a successful businessman in London. He made furniture, traded goods, dealt in diamonds, and bought debts from others. Gilbert's great-grandfather, Gotz Philip Beyfus, came to Britain from Germany in the early 1800s. He was a language teacher and worked at the Jews’ Free School.
Gilbert had a half-brother named Alfred Butt, who later became famous for organizing theatre shows and as a politician. Many of Gilbert's uncles were also involved in various businesses, including theatres, department stores, fruit importing, and dealing in diamonds.
Gilbert Beyfus went to Harrow School starting in 1899. He then studied at Trinity College, Oxford, where he earned a good degree in 1907. Later that year, he passed his exams to become a lawyer. He officially became a lawyer at the Inner Temple in January 1908 and became a senior lawyer in 1933.
Gilbert Beyfus's Political Efforts
In 1910, Gilbert Beyfus tried to become a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cirencester area as a Liberal Party candidate. However, he did not win the election. He tried again for a parliamentary seat in Dudley as a Liberal candidate. The election was planned for 1915, but it was delayed because World War I began. Gilbert also joined the army and went to the war front in February 1915.
After the war, he tried once more to win a seat. He was chosen as a National Liberal candidate for Kingswinford but lost the election in 1922. In 1923, the Liberal Party asked him to be their candidate for East Nottingham, but he said no. In 1937, he joined the Conservative Party and applied to be a candidate twice, but he was not chosen either time.
Military Service and Prisoner of War
When World War I started, Gilbert Beyfus volunteered to join the army. He became a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, West Riding Regiment, on August 15, 1914. He had some military experience from his time in the Harrow School Rifle Corps. He joined his regiment in Belgium at Ypres. In April 1915, he was injured by flying metal during the battle for Hill 60.
He returned to duty in May and was sent back to Hill 60, which was then controlled by the Allied forces. Gilbert narrowly avoided being unable to breathe when the Germans attacked with gas. In the confusion, he was captured and became a prisoner. During this time, his cousin, Harold Emanuel Beyfus, who was serving with The London Regiment, was badly wounded and died two days later.
Gilbert Beyfus remained a prisoner until the end of the war. He tried to escape several times. One notable attempt was when he and two other prisoners tried to cross the Baltic Sea in a small 16-foot rowing boat. However, a coastal patrol spotted them, and they were taken back to the prison camp.
Gilbert Beyfus's Legal Career
In his early career, Gilbert Beyfus often worked for the law firm Beyfus & Beyfus, which was owned by his father and his uncle Philip Beyfus. He also represented family members when they had legal issues.
Cases About Gaming Laws
In 1920, Gilbert Beyfus represented a client in a case about a debt from a game of chance. He won the case because of a small detail in the law. This outcome had a big impact on the gaming industry, forcing them to take a test case to the High Court and then to the House of Lords (two very important courts). In both instances, Gilbert's arguments won, and as a result, the government had to change the law. Gilbert Beyfus became one of the country's top experts on gaming laws. He even gave advice to a special government group in 1950 and helped a politician, William Rees-Davies, create a new law.
In 1933, he was appointed King’s Counsel, a senior lawyer. In 1935, he was involved in another important case about gaming, this time related to football pools (a type of betting on football matches). The case was to see if the pools company was breaking a section of the Betting and Lotteries Act 1934. Again, Gilbert argued his client's case using a legal detail, and the judge agreed with him. However, he did not always win. In 1931, he lost a case involving his client trying to sell tickets for the Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake (a big lottery) in Britain. Interestingly, a year later, Gilbert found out he had won a ticket in the Irish Sweepstake for The Derby favorite, Orwell. Sadly, the horse got injured and could not run well, which was a big disappointment.
In 1958, Beyfus represented John Aspinall and his friend, John Richard Burke. They were accused of illegal gaming at Lady Osborne's (Aspinall's Mother) home. Aspinall had been running places where the main game was Chemin de Fer, a card game. He kept moving locations to avoid the police. After listening to Gilbert's legal arguments, the judge told the jury there was no proof of illegal gaming, so the case was dismissed.
Other Notable Cases
One of the longest and most expensive cases Gilbert handled was in 1935. He represented a UK dealership that sold Chrysler cars. The owner, Arnold de la Poer, claimed that unfair tactics were used to force him to sell his shares to the American Chrysler car company. After a hearing that lasted 62 days, the judge sided with de la Poer and awarded him over £40,000 in damages (money paid as compensation) plus legal costs. The Chrysler company initially planned to appeal, but they eventually reached an agreement.
Besides his work on gaming and family law, Gilbert Beyfus handled some important cases about false written statements. In 1957, three members of the Labour Party, Aneurin Bevan, Richard Crossman, and Morgan Phillips, sued The Spectator magazine. The magazine had published an article suggesting false stories about their behavior during a meeting in Italy. Gilbert won the case for them, and they each received £2500, plus £4000 for legal costs. In the same year, he represented Jaime Ortiz-Patiño in a case against the Sunday Graphic newspaper. He was awarded £20,000 after the newspaper withdrew its defense.
In 1959, the famous entertainer Liberace sued the Daily Mirror newspaper for publishing an article that suggested he was homosexual. Gilbert Beyfus represented Liberace. By this time, Gilbert was 74 years old and not in good health, which initially worried his client. However, in court, he showed his old skill and won the case, getting £8000 in damages for Liberace.
Gilbert Beyfus was very ill by now but kept working. His final case involved a dispute between the Duchess of Argyll and her former social secretary, Yvonne Macpherson, who was Gilbert's client. The jury decided in favor of Mrs. Macpherson, and she was awarded £7000.
Gilbert Beyfus's Marriages
Gilbert Beyfus was married three times. His first wife was Margaret Moore, an actress, whom he married in 1929. They had one child named John Gilbert, who later became a pilot. The couple separated in 1947. Two years later, Gilbert married Joan Hilda Grant, a 29-year-old who had been married before. They divorced within two years. In 1953, Gilbert married for the third time to Eileen Louisa Hill, who was 27. They stayed together until his death in 1960 at his home in Haslemere.
Images for kids
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Gotz Philip Beyfus, a relative, on 25 February 1829
