James Keith, Baron Keith of Avonholm


James Keith, Baron Keith of Avonholm, was a Scottish advocate and judge. He served as a Lord of Session from 1937 to 1953, and then as a Law Lord until 1961.

Early life and career

His grandfather and namesake, James Keith and his father, Sir Henry Shanks Keith both served as Provosts of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland; his father also being appointed a Deputy Lieutenant and Honorary Sheriff of Lanarkshire. His family owned the large high-end grocery business, Keith's of Hamilton, operating from substantial premises on the town's Cadzow Street
The young James Keith was brought up at Avonholm, Hamilton and was educated at the Hamilton Academy and the University of Glasgow, where he took a First in History and a LL.B. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1911. During World War I, he joined the Seaforth Highlanders, and was wounded in France. He was later attached to the Egyptian Army and served with the Sudanese government.
After the War, Keith returned to the Scottish bar, and took silk in 1926. In 1936 he was elected as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

Judicial career

In 1937, Keith was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title of Lord Keith. In 1953, he was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, and was created a life peer, as Baron Keith of Avonholm, of Saint Bernard's in the City of Edinburgh. He was sworn in the Privy Council the same year. As a Law Lord, he dissented in 22% of the cases which he heard – a larger percentage than that of his famously radical contemporary, Lord Denning. He retired in 1961.

Children

On 7 July 1915 James Keith married Jean Maitland Bennett. The couple had three children –