Bill Wedderburn, Baron Wedderburn of Charlton

The Right Honourable
The Lord Wedderburn of Charlton
QC FBA
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
20 July 1977 – 9 March 2012
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born(1927-04-13)13 April 1927
London, United Kingdom
Died9 March 2012(2012-03-09) (aged 84)
London, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)Nina Salaman (div.)
Dorothy Cole (div.)
Frances Knight
ChildrenSarah
David
Lucy
Jonathan
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge, London School of Economics

Kenneth William Wedderburn, Baron Wedderburn of Charlton, QC, FBA (13 April 1927 – 9 March 2012) was a British politician and member of the House of Lords, affiliated with the Labour Party. He briefly became a crossbench member, citing his dislike of Blairism and 'the smell' of cash for questions.[1] He re-took the Labour Party whip in 2007.[2][3] He worked at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, where he was the Cassel Professor of Commercial Law from 1964 until his retirement in 1992.[4]

Education and career

After graduating in law from Queens' College, Cambridge, Wedderburn served in the RAF for two years. He had a long career in labour law, and on 20 July 1977 was created a life peer with the title Baron Wedderburn of Charlton, of Highgate in Greater London[5] (Wedderburn chose this title as a tribute to his favourite football team Charlton Athletic F.C.[6][citation needed][7]).

He was an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. Wedderburn also served as a key member of the 1977 Bullock Committee.[4]

Personal life

In 1951 he married Nina Salaman, a medical researcher from a family of scientists and named after a grandmother. They had three children, Sarah, David and Lucy. The marriage ended in divorce.[8]

His second marriage in 1962 was to Dorothy Cole, a social scientist and university administrator. It also ended in divorce. His third marriage in 1969 was to Frances Knight with whom he had a son, Jonathan.[9] He was a direct descendant of Jamaican-born radical leader and anti-slavery advocate Robert Wedderburn[10] and thus also of the Jacobite rebel Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness.

Bibliography

Articles
  • 'Shareholders' rights and the rule in Foss v Harbottle' [1957] 16 CLJ 194
  • 'Freedom of Association and Philosophies of Labour Law' [1989] 18 Industrial Law Journal
  • 'Consultation and Collective Bargaining in Europe: Success or Ideology' [1997] Industrial Law Journal
  • 'Employees, Partnership and Company Law' [2002] Industrial Law Journal
Books
  • The Worker and the Law, Penguin Books Ltd; 3rd Revised edition (25 September 1986), ISBN 0140226591

See also

References

  1. ^ "Still fighting for freedom". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022.
  2. ^ DoD Online Biography Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Death of Bill Wedderburn - Labour lawyer worked for the workers Archived 13 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "Bill Wedderburn". The Modern Law Review. 76: 1–5. 2013. doi:10.1111/1468-2230.12008.
  5. ^ "No. 47282". The London Gazette. 22 July 1977. p. 9543.
  6. ^ Employment Law lectures at LSE passim [unreliable source?]
  7. ^ Labour lawyer who fought for the rights of workers
  8. ^ Wedderburn, Lucy (23 September 2020). "Nina Wedderburn obituary". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  9. ^ The Guardian - Obituary 12 March 2012, accessed 20 September 2012
  10. ^ "Obituaries-Lord Wedderburn of Charlton: Labour lawyer who fought for the rights of workers". The Independent. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2017.