Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 237, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 December 1935 — Page 4

PAGE 4

Young Baron on Trial Before House of Lords in Medieval Setting

By I nitrd Brent LONDON, Dec. 12. Young Lord de Clifford was acquitted by .1 jury of his peers in the House of Lords today of a charge of manslaughter. By Veiled Brett LONDON. Dec. 12. —The pageantry of feudal England was revived in the House of Lords today where Lord De Clifford, holder of one of the oldest titles in the realm, faced a Jury of his peers on a charge of manslaughter. He pleaded not guilty The 28-ye Br-old baron, whose title was created In 1299, was on trial be-

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cause of a crash between his car and a machine driven by Douglas George Hawkins. 26. four months ago on the Kingston by-pass road on the outskirts of London. Young De Clifford was driving recklessly on the wrong side of the road, the prosecution charged. Mr. Hawkins was killed. The ritual under which the 6 foot 5 inch defendant, a “gay young blade,” is being tried was fixed in the Magna Carta of 1215. It was followed to the last detail. Both setting and procedure were as if three centuries had not passed since lords could not be tried on

felony charges except by their ; equals in rank. Viscount Hailsham, lord chancellor. presided in his capacity of lord high steward. He was seated upon a gilded throne with heavy crimson drapes. Flanking, were lords in velvet robes and cocked hats of bygone centuries. The prosecution was in the hands of Sir Thomas Inskip, attorney general, and Sir Donald Somervell, solicitor general. They and their staff, as well as the attorneys for the defense, w’ore the full-bottomed wigs required when the lords sit as "the

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court of our lord and the king in parliament.” Two hundred seats In the royal gallery of the pillared hall of the peers were reserved for lay lords and another 100 for their eldest sons. There were also seats for 100 peeresses and 200 for members of the House of Commons. In the section reserved for diplomats United States Ambassador Robert W. Bingham was among the first to arrive. Women, including many social leaders, outnumbered men three to one among the prifileged spectators. Many carried lorgnettes.

The defendant was the only man in the chamber without the velvet robes of his rank. He entered as the ‘ prisoner” of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. As he knelt on a velvet cushion before the head of the court, Black Rod handed the bewigged chief judge a w’hite staff, symbolic of the king's commission authorizing the trial before the lords instead of at old Bailey where Lord de Clifford w-as first arraigned after Mr. Hawkins’ death. At the end of the trial, which is expected to take two days, Black Rod will break this wand over his

knee as evidence that the king's commission is ended. After receiving the white staff Viscount Hailsham read the roll of the • lords spiritual and temporal, the peers responding with individual •ayes.” At the end of the trial, there will be no deliberations, open or secret. The peers will be polled again, answering to the direct question: ‘‘How say you?” Each lord will rise, place his right hand across his heart and answer “guilty” or “not guilty.” The pageantry of the trial and the faithful following of the old-

world ritual will cost $50,000. Lord De Clifford, racing enthusiast and man-about-town, is the first peer to be tried by the lords in 34 years. The late Earl Russell was tried then on a charge of bigamy. He was sentenced to three months imprisonment but the king pardoned him after he had served 10 days. In 1926 Lord De Clifford eloped with Dolly Meyrick. dancing daughter of the late Kate Meyrick. "queen of the night clubs.” The baron. 19 at the time, gave his age as 22 in the marriage register. He was fined $250 for the falsification.

DEC. 12, 1935

His mother, now Mrs. Vernon Tate, was the former Eva Harrington. one of the beautiful “Gibson girls.” She was married to the baron’s father in 1906. He was killed in an automobile accident two years later.

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