Christmas Humphreys

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Christmas Humphreys, QC (15 February 1901 – 13 April 1983) was a British jurist and author. He prosecuted several controversial cases in the 1940s and 1950s and later served as a judge at the Old Bailey. He was also a prolific writer on Mahayana Buddhism and was the best-known British convert to Buddhism in his day. In 1924 he founded the London Buddhist Lodge, which later became the Buddhist Society, an influential early Buddhist organization in Britain. His former home in St John’s Wood is now a Buddhist temple.

Humphreys was born in Ealing, the son of a respected barrister and judge. He was known to friends as Toby. After his elder brother died in World War I, he turned to Buddhism at age 17. He studied at Malvern College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and spent his early years reading about Eastern thought and Buddhism. He was influenced by lecturers and Buddhist scholars of his time and welcomed many spiritual visitors to his home and lodge, including Annie Besant, George Arundale, D. T. Suzuki and Meher Baba.

In law, Humphreys was called to the bar in 1924 and began with criminal defense work. He became Junior Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey in 1934, Recorder of Deal in 1942, and after World War II he worked as an assistant prosecutor in the Tokyo war crimes trials. In 1950 he became Senior Treasury Counsel and led several famous cases, including Timothy Evans, Klaus Fuchs, and others that helped influence the movement to end capital punishment in the UK. He was also involved in high-profile prosecutions such as the Evans case, which later influenced reforms in criminal justice. He became a Commissioner at the Old Bailey in 1962 and an Additional Judge there in 1968, serving until his retirement in 1976. Some of his sentencing decisions in the mid-1970s caused public controversy, and he eventually resigned.

Humphreys wrote many books on Buddhism and served as president of the Shakespeare Fellowship, which supported the theory that Edward de Vere, not Shakespeare, wrote the plays. He helped found the Ballet Guild in 1941 and held other leadership roles in Buddhist and cultural circles. His autobiography, Both Sides of the Circle, was published in 1978, and he also wrote Buddhist-themed poetry.

He died of a heart attack at his London home. His life and work were referenced in popular culture, including films and songs.