My father-in-law Leslie Joseph QC, who died at the age of 96, was a man of many passions: food, wine, family, travel, friends, and Middle Temple.
Born in 1925 to Ben and Sally Joseph in his grandfather’s house in Victoria Park Road, he spent his childhood between Wandsworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb. He was educated at Haberdashers Aske’s School. He was in the Upper 5th when war broke out and was soon spending evenings as an air raid warden on the roof of the school’s temporary home at Chase Lodge in Enfield and playing chess with the masters in the basement in any idle time. Along with other friends from school he had joined the 11th Golders Green Scout troop. At the end of his last year of school, he and three other teenagers took the troop of 30 scouts for a fortnight’s camp in the country. As chief cook, he developed his skill in cooking for large numbers, combining rations to make large pots of communal fare for the hungry youths.
Leslie matriculated from school aged 17 with results conferring an exemption from first year B.A. His father was keen that he should complete his degree before going into the forces, limiting his options for further study as he could not stay on for third year 6th form and apply to Oxbridge. He decided to go to UCL, which was then located in Bangor due to the War. In the event, however, he was called up after only one year of study. The war in Europe was by this time nearing its end and much to his chagrin, and not until after he had ruined his hearing through training with fully armed grenades, he was assigned to the Education Corps in India. While he never overcame his regret at not being able to serve on the front line, his time in India provided countless stories of crowded train journeys, spirited card games, gin cocktails and exotic romance.
There was also an unhappy encounter with a king cobra which bit him in the ankle. The doctor treating him sensitively informed him that he would have to amputate his leg to save his life. Leslie was having none of this. He pulled out his army issue revolver and threatened to kill the medic on the spot if he tried to do so. In the battle of man versus cobra, man prevailed, and the Leslie walked from his bed on both feet.
After the war, Leslie resumed his studies at UCL determined to make the most out of his time as a student. Rather than completing his degree in history in a year, which would have exhausted his Ex-Service educational entitlement and required him to fund his own legal training, he switched to law which entitled him to a three-year law degree. He edited the student paper, played a great deal of bridge and was instrumental in prevailing upon Hollywood star, Danny Kaye, to participate in Rag week. He emerged from university with a law degree, a varied set of skills to add to those he had learnt in the army, and wide circle of friends.
In the summer of 1948 he took up the opportunity, along with five other students, to spend the summer working in a timber camp in Finland with a slow return journey through Italy and France, but it was in the summer of 1949 that he set off on a six week camping tour of Italy and France, which was to make of him a life-long Francophile and lover of wine with a connoisseur’s appreciation of fine food – he recalled the details of individual meals and bottles from this trip in his memoirs. Seeing Chartres for the first time was a stunning revelation and he and his companions were among the first visitors to the caves at Lascaux, opened to visitors the previous year. He was to return to France nearly every year until well into his nineties.
Leslie was Called to the Bar in 1952. He obtained a pupillage in the chambers of David Weitzman QC then at 10 King’s Bench Walk, and after completing a second pupillage elsewhere he joined it as a tenant. The chambers moved to become Devereux Chambers in the early 1970s, and he was to practice there for all his career. As he was establishing himself as a Barrister he met his first wife, Ursula Hamilton. Their courtship was not straightforward. His family were determined that he should not marry a non-Jew. Hers were equally determined that she should not marry a Jew. This delayed but could not prevent their eventual marriage in 1964. They spent many happy years together, enjoying a rich and vibrant family life with their three children in Belsize Park, in a home which was known for its hospitality and numerous pets. They shared a love of theatre, music, travel and entertaining.
At home, Leslie would commandeer the large dining table to attend to his sets of papers as he developed a successful common law practice. He was always rather sceptical about the fact that I had specialised so early and thought the intellectual agility and rigour of a more expansive practice was something that I had missed out on. He would regale me with stories from his days at the Bar and tender helpful advice when I came to him with a problem or a nagging doubt. He was a wonderful storyteller and offered sage counsel. It gave me an insight into why his pupils, of whom he had a number and of whom he was understandably proud, continued their association with him long after they had ascended the ranks at the Bar and on the Bench.
When I first met him, Leslie was all but retired. However, he remained a compelling advocate, even within the four walls of his home. He made travels to courts various sound exciting and described the fellowship of colleagues on Circuit with relish. I never grew tired of tales of cases won and lost. One that always stays with me involved a trip to the High Court just before Christmas. He was representing a gentleman who had, in his judgment, an unassailable claim and was what Leslie might call a thoroughly decent chap. The negotiations with his opponent extended over many hours in the freezing corridors of the RCJ. The case was eventually settled when Leslie accepted an offer but only on the condition that the financial payment was accompanied by a case of finest whisky for his grateful and deserving client.
Leslie took Silk in 1978. He developed a busy practice as a leader, but his time in Silk was interrupted and then cut short by Ursula’s illness. He was devoted to her when she was unwell and devastated when she died in 1988. Her death really marked the end of Leslie being in full time practice.
However, he continued to be a stalwart of Middle Temple. He valued the friendships he found at the Inn and attended events throughout the year. He was Benched in 1986 and became a senior Bencher in 1997. Leslie served on the Wine Committee, was Master of the Revels for 12 years and was made a Reader in 2003. He loved to introduce new members of the Inn to its history and urged them to make it their home. He urged me to make it mine and by incremental degrees he drew me in.
Leslie also contributed to the profession long after he had retired from practice. He served on the Common Professional Exam Board, becoming its chair from 1996-98. He was on the Bar Vocational Course Validation Panel 1996-97 and was particularly proud of his involvement in the education of new members of the Bar.
The last decades of his life he spent with Hedwig Swann. To have the blessing of two happy marriages is a wonderful thing and he never took it for granted. He adored Hedwig and she was a loving and attentive partner to him. She brought with her three children of her own and the bonus of three additional and much-loved grandchildren to add to the six Leslie brought to the family. Much happy family time was spent in their cottage in Dorset.
Leslie could be exacting, irascible and rebarbative. He could also be jocular, warm, and supportive. He was fun to have around, played a mean game of scrabble, cooked with great skill, could find a cheap wine which punched above its weight and uncover a great restaurant behind an unprepossessing facade. He had good taste in art, loved travel and good company. He was a polymath with an inexhaustible love of reading and a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity. He was a loyal friend, loving father and husband and a force of nature. He commanded great respect and affection.
Leslie leaves behind him Hedwig, his children Tamara, Kalantha and Ben and his stepchildren Caroline, Michael, and Olivia, nine grandchildren and a well-stocked cellar.
