What's
it about?
You may have heard that Australian actor Leo McKern recently passed away. Well, at his
advanced age this was not unexpected. But this is not the purpose of my effort today -
because, in circumstances that must be considered eerily coincidental, Mr. Horace Rumpole
of the Old Bailey left this mortal coil on the same day as his long-time friend McKern. We
understand that they met in 1975 over a glass of claret at Pomeroy' s Wine Bar and had
remained fast friends ever since.
As Head of the Criminal Bar, and a companion over a glass of red, I have been asked to
write an obituary to mark the passing of Mr. Rumpole.
Meet Mr Rumpole
Rumpole was a member of the criminal Bar who plied his trade at the Old Bailey in
London, where he was in constant conflict with the Learned Judges. Conflict appears to
have been a constant in Horace's life. There have long been rumours of tensions at home
with his wife Hilda and the various Heads of Chambers with whom he seemed to have
maintained (in the words of a former colleague at the Bar) an elegant defiance. Horace
once told me that his "dry" wit often got him into trouble, but at Chambers and
at home the cause was more likely his vigorous defence (NEVER the prosecution) of less
savoury criminals.
No remembrance of Horace should omit his love of small cigars, and yes, the occasional
tipple - invariably the cheapest plonk available at Pommeroy's Winebar, where he favoured
"Chateau Fleet Street" or "Chateau Thames Embankment".
Oh, but what a lawyer!
Don't be fooled by his appearance - Horace was an awe-inspiring advocate, though he was
not possessed of personal ambition. Yes, he never achieved the pinnacle as Head of
Chambers (Number 3 Equity Court), where he served under the unremarkable Sam Ballard QC
(better known at the Bar as "Sam Dullard"). Soapy Sam (Rumpole's nickname that
was not a term of endearment) is a church-going bible-basher who tends to apply his
Christian principles with some intolerance. He got the job ahead of Rumpole after some
fancy footwork while Horace was taking a case in Africa. Let me say that Horace, no lover
of piety, was in fact the one with a truly Christian view of charity. The previous Head of
Chambers (following Hilda's father) was Guthrie Fetherston QC, who left to become a very
ordinary judge and often sought Rumpole's help to be extricated from a jam.
Apart from Rumpole, the only barrister at 3 Equity Court of any skill was Phillida
Erskine-Brown, the lovely QC who is surprisingly married to Claude Erskine-Brown (another
Chambers resident who knows little of the law). Rumpole called her "Portia",
after the character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". Horace, of
course, had a solid grasp of Shakespeare, but for those few who can't remember the plot of
that play, Portia was the character who cross-dressed and made the famous speech:
"…the quality of mercy is not strained…". Phillida has lately gone to
the Bench.
Horace's Rise
Horace came to prominence, as he loved to tell us, in the infamous Penge Bungalow
Murders Case. I'm not exactly sure when this case took place, but like a good fishing
story it's lustre grew with the passage of time. One thing I know for certain - it turned
on Rumpole's vast grasp of the forensic significance of blood stains, and thereafter a
facility with bloodstains forever remained for Rumpole the hallmark of a barrister's
skill.
Rumpole was also the beneficiary of the generations-old feud between the Timsons and
the Molloys (the English version of the Hatfields and McCoys). Rumpole was retained by
three generations of Timsons, who typified his view of the criminal world - the Timsons
were "good" criminals, not taken to violence but inveterate (though honourable)
thieves. As one of them said to me at the funeral, "Mr. Rumpole always done right by
the Timsons".
Rumpole spent much of his professional career surrounded by incompetent lawyers and
peevish judges who challenged his sense of justice like a bull at a red rag. Many of us in
proximity at the Bar table were treated to Rumpole's magnificent stream of whispered
ridicule, which ranged from mimicry to barbed comments on the judicial process.
Rumpole and Hilda
Did Hilda and Rumpole love each other? I believe so, because over a long (oh, so long)
marriage they always stuck together when the chips were down. Clearly Horace did not
achieve all that Hilda may have yearned for, and Daddy cast a long shadow - but in the end
they always did the little things that spoke the truth of their devotion. I well remember
the time Horace took dancing lessons for the Lawyers' Ball. And once, despite his disgust,
he agreed to an ill-fated ship cruise. But as Horace once told me over a "Chateau
Fleet Street", he endorsed Zsa Zsa Gabor's assessment of marital bliss: "A man
in love is incomplete until he has married-then he's finished." Why did Horace always
refer to Hilda as "she who must be obeyed"? You obviously never met her if
you're asking that question!
Hilda and Horace met through Chambers. Hilda's father, whom she always referred to as
"Daddy", was the head of the Chambers at Number 3 Equity Court. Unfortunately
Hilda maintained a somewhat exaggerated view of her father's advocacy skills. As Horace
was wont to lament, his late father-in-law knew nothing of bloodstains.
The final verdict
Rumpole loved to quote poetry, particularly Wordsworth, and sometimes Keats, who once
said: "With a great poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or
rather obliterates all consideration" - the same might be said of this wonderful man
who made many of us at the criminal Bar appear so lame by comparison. Today we remember
his war cry: "Never plead guilty". Many believed that Horace was a subversive -
certainly Rumpole believed in Queen and Country, and he would have stood to the death
against anarchy, but he well appreciated the need to undermine the preciousness of the
legal system at every opportunity.
It was fascinating to watch Horace's evolution as he assailed all and sundry with his
fearless repertoire of barrister's tricks. I never saw him flinch at the moment of battle,
nor deviate one inch from his principles, sometimes at a real cost to his comfort and
career. That was the measure of this great man. Horace Rumpole was the best of the best.
Sadly missed by all.
By Geoffrey Winn
Creative Director
www.law4u.com.au