A. P. Herbert
Sir
Alan Patrick Herbert (usually as
A. P. Herbert or
A.P.H.) (
September 24,
1890 -
November 11,
1971) was a
British humorist,
Member of Parliament,
barrister,
novelist and
Law reform activist.
He studied at
New College, Oxford, without taking a degree; and was admitted to the bar in
1918, but never practiced.
In
1935, with the aid of
Frank Pakenham, he became a Member of Parliament for
Oxford University, from where he was returned until the
University seats were abolished in
1950.
He was sent to
Newfoundland and Labrador in 1943 with
Derrick Gunston and
Charles Ammon as part of a Parliamentary commission to investigate the future of the dominion, and supported the cause of independence over Confederation as a result. He was
knighted in
1945.
He served in the
Royal Naval Division during the
First World War; and during the Second World War in the
Royal Navy, on patrol-boats in the Thames.
Throughout his career he lobbied for reform of several laws which he felt to be outdated, among these the legislation on
divorce and
obscenity.
A popular topic of his was the remarkably complex British
licensing laws of the time, and in 1935 - as a protest - he became the first person to lay a criminal information against the
House of Commons, for selling alcohol without a license. (The High Court ruled that it was exempt through
Parliamentary privilege)
Giving his
maiden speech on his second day in the House, he declared rashly that he planned to introduce the Matrimonial Causes Bill, to reform divorce, and that he would have it passed before that Parliament was over. In the event, it was passed - somewhat strengthed by the House of Lords - in 1938 as the
Matrimonial Causes Act 1937. This, for the first time, allowed divorce without requiring proof of
adultery. He also advocated reform of the gambling laws and the repeal of the
entertainments tax, among other causes.
His work appeared often in
Punch magazine, where the work for which he is best remembered; his series of
Misleading Cases in the Common Law; was first published. These were satirical pieces; in the form of "
law reports" or "
judgements"; on various aspects of the British legal and judicial system. They often had a sharp political point beneath their
satire, and tied into his personal crusades against obsolescent legislation. Many of them featured the exploits of Albert Haddock, a tireless and veteran litigant.
Although entirely fictional, they are often quoted admiringly and with full knowledge in actual judicial decisions; and are also the subject of academic research.
["Rumpelheimer v. Haddock: Port to Port", by Joseph C. Sweeney, e-text at University of Texas.]Due to their realism they were on several occasions mistakenly reported by newspapers both in Britain and elsewhere as factual. One of the "cases", supposedly establishing a novel crime of "doing what you like", was sharply criticized by an
American law review article, whose author failed to note its entire absurdity.
Over his lifetime he published sixteen collections of the
Misleading Cases. Some of these were collected into two volumes,
Uncommon Law and
More Uncommon Law, in 1982. The
BBC successfully adapted them for
television; with
Roy Dotrice as Haddock, and
Alastair Sim as the judge; as
A P Herbert's Misleading Cases.
He wrote eight novels, including
The Water Gypsies,
The Secret Battle, and
Holy Deadlock; and fifteen plays.
In addition to his fiction, Herbert wrote
What a Word! in 1935, continuing his campaign in
Punch for better use of English, including a section on 'Plain English' more than a decade ahead of Sir
Ernest Gowers' more celebrated work. Characteristically Herbert uses humour to make his serious points about good writing.
A P Herbert loved the River Thames. He lived beside it at Hammersmith, West London. He was a Conservator (a member of the Thames Conservancy Board) and a Freeman of the Company of River Thames Watermen and Lightermen. In 1966 he wrote "The Thames" (Weidenfeld and Nicholson) in which he explored the 'machinery' of the river in all it's aspects.
