The School of Law and Social Justice has benefited from a number of gifts and endowments over its history which have benefited our students, teaching provision, and research. In relation to endowed chairs, there has been the Queen Victoria Chair in English Law (from 1896 to today) and the Alsop Wilkinson Chair of Law (1992-1993).
There have also been funded studentships, including the Royal Life Studentship for insurance law (1991-1993) and the Hodgson Studentships (ongoing), which is a studentship for international students.
There have also been endowments for academic prizes over time. These have included the CCH Publishers prize (company law), the Conkerton Memorial Fund prize, the Davies Wallis Foyster prize (land), the Inland Revenue prize (equity), the Lace Mawer prize (tax Law), the Royal Bank of Scotland prize (banking law), the Sweet & Maxwell Ltd prize and the Weightman Rutherfords Prize (tort).
The Faculty of Law (now the School of Law and Social Justice) also received an endowment in 1908 that was used to create, amongst other things, the AF Warr Memorial Lectureship in Equity. AF Warr was a celebrated Member of Parliament and commercial law solicitor based in Liverpool.[i] He died early, aged 60, in 1908. Following his death, a public subscription was launched to provide a suitable memorial to his life and work. Here, we explore the AF Warr memorial gift, investigate who AF Warr was, and highlight former members of staff who have held the AF Warr Memorial Lectureship in Equity.
Augustus Frederick Warr (20th September 1847 to 24th March 1908 – hereafter Warr)[ii] was born in September 1847. He was the third son of the Reverend Canon Warr. His father was the Vicar of Childwall, Canon of Liverpool at St Saviour’s Church from 1880 until 1895, when he died. AF Warr’s grandfather was Professor George Charles Winter Warr of King’s College, London.[iii]
Warr was educated at the Royal Institution School in Liverpool. He then went on to qualify as a solicitor in 1870. He won the New Inn prize during his Law Society Finals.[iv]
Warr married Henrietta George Barnes, daughter of Henry Barnes of Liverpool and sister of the advocate and later judge Lord (Rt Hon Sir John Gorell) Barnes in 1878. Warr was a member of the Carlton Club and he lived at Clearwood, Mossley Hill, Liverpool.
Legal Career
As we have seen Warr was a solicitor who specialised in commercial law. He became an established authority on the subject. Warr was a partner in the law firm Batesons, Warr & Wimshurt. He also served as a President of the Liverpool Law Society in 1892.
Political Career
Warr’s first brush with politics came when he was elected as a Liverpool City Councillor in November 1894. He then progressed to a seat in the House of Commons when the Conservative Member of Parliament for the East Toxteth division, (Lord) Henry de Worms, was elevated to the peerage in November 1895. When the East Toxteth division seat became vacant, there was a by-election. Warr was selected as the Conservative candidate. He was returned unopposed.[v] Warr was also returned unopposed in the 1900 General Election. He remained a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1895 to 1902. Warr resigned his seat on the 27th October 1902 by accepting appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. Warr’s resignation was prompted by a combination of his wife’s illness and the pressure of his legal work. Another by-election was held for the East Toxteth division.
Warr died suddenly on the 24th March, 1908, at the age of 60.
“A suitable memorial…”
A public meeting was held at the town hall on the 6th June 1908 to discuss a “Memorial to the Late Augustus Frederick Warr.” A formidable committee was established, which included the Lord Mayor of Liverpool as chairman, the Lord Bishop of Liverpool, the Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, the President of the Liverpool Law Society, and many others.[vi]
The fruits of the committees’ work can be seen in a letter from Charles Booth, Edward Crooks and Edward Pickmere, secretaries to the committee. The correspondence is on Town Hall headed paper and dated 31st October 1908. This shows that three memorial items were envisaged to celebrate the memory of Warr. These were:
- “That the sum of about £150 to be applied towards a Personal Memorial of the late AF Warr… [this would be the Bust – see below]
- That the sum of £4000 be offered to the University of Liverpool for or towards the Endowment of a Lectureship in Equity to be permanently associated with the name of Mr Warr, such Lectureship to be tenable by the same person for not more than three years. [Hartley Shawcross held this lectureship for seven years – see below]
- That the sum of £500 to be offered to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary towards the Endowment of a bed in the Infirmary to be permanently associated with Mr Warr’s name.”[vii]
The Warr memorial bust was presented to the University of Liverpool by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the Town Hall on Castle Street. Lord Justice Kennedy and Dr. AC Bradley were among those who took part in the ceremony. Friends and subscribers were invited to the ceremony. In relation to the memorial correspondence in the University archive notes, “That the Personal Memorial take the form of a Bust of the late Mr Warr, which should be offered to the University of Liverpool to be placed in its Library, and that any remaining funds be devoted to a Memorial Tablet to be placed in the Liverpool Cathedral or elsewhere as may be arranged.”[viii]
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The Bust was made by Mr Charles J Allen. Charles John Allen (1862 – 1956), known professionally as C.J. Allen, was one of the most prominent and influential sculptors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His flowing, romantic style, allied with an uncanny ability to catch a likeness, ensured his popularity as a portrait sculptor. In 1894, Allen was appointed Lecturer in Sculpture and Modelling at the Liverpool School of Architecture and Applied Arts at what was to become the University of Liverpool, and remained affiliated with the institution until his retirement in 1927. Accordingly, he was chosen to record likenesses of several of the University’s key personalities, such as Warr in 1909, and the bust was displayed for many years in the Victoria Building’s Tate Hall. The Bust is now located in the Victoria Gallery & Museum at the University of Liverpool. In terms of likenesses of Warr, the National Portrait Gallery also holds a portrait of Warr.[ix]
The holders of the AF Warr Memorial Lectureship in Equity have so far included:
- Hartley Shawcross (later Lord Shawcross QC, Nuremberg Prosecutor and Attorney-General) - AF Warr Memorial Lecturer in Equity for seven years.
- Mr W Geddes – AF Warr Memorial Lecturer in Equity from 1934.
The original Warr gift has grown over time, and money from the endowment is still used to this day to support the AF Warr Lectureship in Equity at the School of Law and Social Justice at the University of Liverpool.
References
[i] On Warr see further: Debrett's House of Commons, and the Judicial Bench. London: Dean & Son. 1901. p. 155. See also: "Obituary. Augustus Frederick Warr". The Times. 26 March 1908. p. 8. See also: "Obituary: Canon George Winter Warr". The Times. 31 December 1895. p. 4, col B. See also: "Election Intelligence: Liverpool (East Toxteth division)". The Times. 30 November 1895. p. 11, column E.
[ii] See further: George Godfrey Warr. Augustus Frederick Warr. 1847-1908. Liverpool : Printed for private circulation, 1908.
[iii] See: Warr, Augustus Frederick, (20 Sept. 1847–24 March 1908), MP (C) Liverpool, East Toxteth Division, 1895–1900, and 1900–02. Who's Who & Who Was Who. 2007.
[iv] Incorporated Law Society.-Easter Term, Thursday, June 16, 1870, The Times.
[v] News in Brief, Saturday, Nov. 30, 1895, The Times.
[vi] REF: LAW - Faculty of Law - 1908-1910; 1917-1965; 1988-1993. This series comprises Faculty Records (1908-1910; 1917-1965; 1988-1991) including minute books of the Faculty Board and Committees; material relating to Chairs and Lectureships (1908-1910), Minute book of the A F Warr Memorial (1908-1910), Publications of the Faculty of Law (1979, 1985). Hereafter Minute Book. Minute Book, press cutting.
[vii] Minute Book.
[viii] Minute Book, letter dated the 12th December 1908
[ix] https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp89761
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