Sir William Arnold | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 21 July 1973 Guernsey, Channel Islands | (aged 69)
Bailiff of Guernsey | |
In office 1960–1973 | |
Preceded by | Ambrose Sherwill |
Succeeded by | John Loveridge |
Sir William Henry Arnold KBE (5 August 1903 - 21 July 1973) was Bailiff of Guernsey from 1960 to his death in 1973.
Arnold was born and educated on Guernsey.[1] He was called to the English Bar in 1926 and the Guernsey Bar in 1927.
Arnold was Procureur (Attorney-General) from 1946 to 1960 and was then appointed Bailiff in 1960.[2][3][4][5] In 1964 he led the successful move in Guernsey to abolish the death penalty for murder.[6] In 1966 a civil servant, Basil Torode, raised Clameur de Haro in the Guernsey Parliament in front of Arnold, leading to an uproar in the house.[7]
He was active in the fundraising efforts for a new Arun-class lifeboat for the Saint Peter Port Lifeboat Station.[8] He died before the new boat could be commissioned, and she was named Sir William Arnold in his honour.[9]
He was made CBE in the 1955 Queen's Birthday Honours List, knighted in the 1963 New Years Honours List and made KBE in the 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours.[10][11][12]
Arnold died in office, just before his 70th birthday.[13] The National Portrait Gallery holds a photograph of Arnold by Walter Bird.[14]