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Gershon Ellenbogen

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Gershon Ellenbogen
Gershon Ellenbogen
Born
Gershon Katzenellenbogen

7 January 1917
DiedSeptember 2003
NationalityBritish
EducationLiverpool Collegiate School
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge
OccupationBarrister
Spouses
  • Eileen Alexander
  • Myrtle Franklin
ChildrenKate Whiteman (with Eileen Alexander)
RelativesPeter Whiteman (son-in-law)

Gershon Ellenbogen (7 January 1917 – September 2003), was a British barrister, author and a Liberal Party politician. He was notable for his contribution to the well known and much used legal reference work the Constitutional Laws of Great Britain.

Early life

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Ellenbogen was born Gershon Katzenellenbogen in Liverpool, the son of Max Katzenellenbogen and Gertrude Hamburg. He was educated at Liverpool Collegiate School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was a Foundation Scholar. He won a First Class in the Classical Tripos, then read Moral Sciences for two years and Law for one year.[1] While at Cambridge, he was a contemporary and friend of Alan Turing.[2]

His elder brother Basil was a physician and author, and his younger brother Raymond Ellenbogen was a dental surgeon.

Professional career

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He served six years in the RAF as a Flight-Lieutenant in the Intelligence Branch, serving in Europe and the Middle East, being posted to Cairo in 1943.[3] He was called to the Bar. He was a Bacon scholar of Gray's Inn, and a Barstow scholar of the Inns of Court. He was an author and lecturer on legal matters, as well as a practising barrister on the Northern Circuit.[4] He wrote English Arbitration Practice and co-authored Questions and Answers on Constitutional Law and Legal History in 1950. In 1952, following an invitation from Owen Hood Phillips, he undertook a major revision of Chalmers and Hood Phillips Constitutional Laws of Great Britain.[5] The reference work was widely regarded as the fullest modern exposition of the law on this subject.[6] He was a frequent contributor to The Times, writing on legal matters.[7]

Political career

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He was Liberal candidate for the new Southgate division of Middlesex at the 1950 General Election, finishing third;[8]

General Election 1950: Southgate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Arthur Beverley Baxter 30,302 61.1 n/a
Labour Miss Vera Dart 11,023 22.2 n/a
Liberal Gershon Ellenbogen 8,286 16.7 n/a
Majority 19,279 38.9 n/a
Turnout 86.4 n/a
Conservative win

He did not stand for parliament again.[9]

Personal life

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In 1944 he married Eileen Alexander. They had one daughter, who as Kate Whiteman, became well known as a food writer. His wife died in 1986 and in 1993 he married Myrtle Ruth Franklin (born Myrtle Ruth Sebag-Montefiore), who had been married to David Ellis Franklin (son of Ellis Arthur Franklin) until his death in 1986.

References

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  1. ^ Who's Who of 475 Liberal Candidates fighting the 1950 General Election
  2. ^ Enigma: The Battle For The Code by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
  3. ^ Who's Who of 475 Liberal Candidates fighting the 1950 General Election
  4. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1950
  5. ^ JSTOR, The Modern Law Review, 1958
  6. ^ L. Neville Brown, 'Phillips, Owen Hood (1907–1986)', rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 24 Jan 2015
  7. ^ The Times Digital Archive
  8. ^ Who's Who of 475 Liberal Candidates fighting the 1950 General Election
  9. ^ British parliamentary election results 1950-1973, Craig, F.W.S.