predecessor death_date birth_place nationality profession office birth_date term_start appointer article_title term_end name
thomas edward scrutton 26 april 1933 edgbaston , birmingham english barrister , judge high court of justice of england and wales 19 july 1869 1916 stanley buckmaster henry mccardie
 1933 henry alfred mccardie
henry mccardie

sir henry alfred mccardie -lrb- 19 july 1869 -- 26 april 1933 -rrb- was a controversial british judge .
educated at king edward 's school , birmingham he left school at 16 and spent several years working for an auctioneer before qualifying as a barrister and being called to the bar in 1894 .
despite his lack of a university degree and the business connections that went with it mccardie built up a successful practice in birmingham and the midland and oxford circuit through a combination of clear arguments , confident advocacy and intense work ; he worked so late in his chambers that they became known as `` the lighthouse '' .
he moved to london to continue work in 1904 and was a popular barrister , on one day handling twenty-one cases in twenty-one different courts .
at the peak of his career he was earning # 20,000 while still a junior barrister ; a massive amount for that period .
he was appointed as a judge of the high court king 's bench division in 1916 at the personal recommendation of the prime minister h. h. asquith despite only being a junior barrister -lrb- his application to become a king 's counsel in 1910 had been withdrawn -rrb- , a rarity as most high court judges were kcs .
he became known for two things ; firstly the quality and detail of his written judgements , and secondly his tendency to rebel against the judicial norm and criticise the system , which prevented him from advancing further up the judicial hierarchy .
he was popular with the bar and became a bencher of the middle temple in 1916 and a reader in 1927 , but received much criticism from the judiciary for his judgements .
after several bouts of illness and depression while on circuit he committed suicide on 26 april 1933 in his flat .
