Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay

Robert Bannatyne Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay GCMG PC ( born July 11, 1842 in Edinburgh, † March 9, 1929 in London) was a British physician and lawyer. He served from 1885 to 1892, from 1895 to 1906 and from 1910 to 1916 as a Member of the British Parliament, and from 1916 to 1919 as Lord Chancellor. From 1922 until his death he served as a judge at the Permanent Court of International Justice.

Life

Robert Finlay was born in 1842 in Edinburgh and studied at the local university to study medicine, which he completed in 1863. Two years later he began also a legal education at the Law Society of the Middle Temple in 1867, he was admitted as a lawyer. From 1885 to 1892, from 1895 to 1906 he was a member as a member of the Liberal and 1910-1916 for the Conservatives to the House of Commons. In 1895 he was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, 1900 to 1905, he served as Attorney General for England and Wales.

After he became in 1902 Rector of the University of Edinburgh, he became in 1905 a member of the Privy Council. From 1916 to 1919 he served as Lord Chancellor by Prime Minister David Lloyd George. From 1920 he was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The following year he was also elected a judge on the newly formed International Court of Justice, where he worked until his death and at this time was the oldest reigning member of the tribunal.

Robert Finlay was married in 1874 and has one son. He died in London in 1929.

Awards

Robert Finlay was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1882 and 1895, knighted in 1904 was followed by the recording as a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of St Michael and St George. He received in 1915 the noble title of Baron Finlay and three years later the title of Viscount Finlay, but the 1945 went out with his son 's death after leaving the office of Lord Chancellor.