George Archer - Shee George Archer - Shee ( 6 May 1895 – 31 October 1914 ) was a young Royal Navy cadet whose case of whether he stole a five shilling postal order ended up being decided in London ' s High Court in 1910 . The trial , which became a British cause célèbre , was the inspiration for the play " The Winslow Boy " by Terence Rattigan . Archer - Shee was successfully defended against the charges by the notable barrister , judge and politician from Ireland , Sir Edward Carson . Following the acquittal , the boy ' s family were paid compensation in July 1911 . Theft . Archer - Shee became a cadet at Osborne Naval College on the Isle of Wight in January 1908 . The college , which was part of the estate of the late Queen Victoria , educated and trained 14 to 16 year olds in their first two years in the Royal Navy . Further studies then continued at the Royal Naval College , Dartmouth in Devon . It eventually closed in April 1921 . The theft occurred on 7 October 1908 , shortly after the start of the autumn term , when a cadet called Terence Back received a postal order from a relative for five shillings . On the same afternoon , Archer - Shee had been given permission to go to a post office outside the college grounds to buy a postal order and a stamp because he wanted to buy a model train costing fifteen shillings and sixpence ( 15s 6d ) . On returning to the college , he discovered that Back had reported that his postal order had been stolen . Miss Tucker , the elderly clerk at Osborne Post Office , was contacted . She produced Back ' s cashed postal order and stated that only two cadets had visited her that afternoon . However she claimed the same cadet who had bought a postal order for 15s 6d was also the one who cashed the 5s order . Legal defence . When the Admiralty wrote to Archer - Shee ' s father , Martin , telling him that his son was being expelled for theft , the official at The Bank of England instantly responded that " Nothing will make me believe the boy guilty of this charge , which shall be sifted by independent experts " . The father ' s reaction reflected the family ' s values . They were devout Roman Catholics and the background in bank management meant all the sons had been brought up to regard misuse of money as sinful . Martin Archer - Shee contacted several lawyers to help clear his son ' s name . He also contacted his son Major Martin Archer - Shee , the half brother of George , who was active in politics ( in 1910 he became Member of Parliament for Finsbury Central in North London ) . Major Archer - Shee obtained the services of Sir Edward Carson . Carson , who was regarded as one of Great Britain ' s best barristers of the age , also had a son who attended Osborne . Before he took the case , Carson subjected the boy to questioning to test his story ; only accepting once he had satisfied himself of the boy ' s innocence . Trial and acquittal . Several problems prevented Carson from taking the case straight to court . Firstly as Archer - Shee was a naval cadet at the time , this excluded him from the jurisdiction of a civil court . Secondly as he was not enlisted in the Royal Navy , he was not entitled to a court - martial . In order to help his client , Carson used an archaic legal device called a petition of right against the Crown to bring the matter before the courts . The case eventually came to the High Court of Justice on 26 July 1910 . Carson ' s opening remarks set the tone of the case : Carson soon proved that the grounds on which the Admiralty had dismissed Archer - Shee were unsubstantiated . The barrister successfully proved that the elderly postmistress , Miss Tucker , could easily have been mistaken . She admitted in court that all of the cadets looked alike . Conceding that in the course of dealing with one cadet and her various other tasks and duties , another boy could have entered without her noticing . The court also heard Miss Tucker was unable to identify Archer - Shee among the other cadets when given the opportunity to do so . On the fourth day of the trial , the Solicitor - General accepted the statement that George Archer - Shee did not cash the postal order " and consequently that he is innocent of the charge . I say further , in order that there may be no misapprehension about it , that I make that statement without any reserve of any description , intending that it shall be a complete justification of the statement of the boy and the evidence he has given before the court . " Compensation . Following the emphatic verdict , the Archer - Shee family began to press the Admiralty to pay restitution . On 16 March 1911 the First Lord of the Admiralty said that he thought the House of Commons would think it inappropriate . Nevertheless the family continued to press their claim , circulating a booklet within the Establishment presenting their side of the case . On 6 April , the Archer - Shee case was raised in the Houses of Parliament during a Naval Estimates debate . As most MPs supported compensation , the Admiralty was forced to concede to a judicial hearing to decide the matter , otherwise the business would be ' lost ' ( a Parliamentary term meaning postponed , not dismissed , to a future day ) . Following the hearing , Viscount Mersey agreed the family should be paid £4 , 120 to cover their costs , and £3 , 000 compensation " in full settlement of all demands " ( Approx . £566 , 000 . 00 in 2011 ) . All monies were paid in July 1911 . Later life . After his expulsion as a naval cadet in 1908 , George Archer - Shee returned to the Roman Catholic Stonyhurst College in Lancashire , where he had been educated before going to Osborne Naval College . After completing his studies , he went to work at the Wall Street firm of Fisk & Robinson in New York City . With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , Archer - Shee returned to Britain and was commissioned in the British Army as a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion , South Staffordshire Regiment . It is believed Archer - Shee joined the South Staffs at the suggestion of Sir Edward Carson , whose own nephew F . E . Robinson had recently joined the regiment . Archer - Shee was killed , aged 19 , at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914 . His name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of North Woodchester in Gloucestershire , where his parents lived . His name also appears on on the roll of honour of " the men of St Mary ’ s school and congregation " displayed on the wall at the front of the RC church of St Mary on the Quay , Bristol . Robinson was killed three days before Archer - Shee . Both their names are recorded on tablet 35 of the Menin Gate in Ypres , as neither has a known grave . Remaining in the Royal Navy , Terence Back was promoted to captain in 1938 and served on the Arctic Convoys during World War II . He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1944 and died in 1968 .