{{Short description|English lawyer, judge and Liberal Party politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} thumb|right|210px|'''Godfrey Russell-Vick <small>KC</small>''' in 1936 '''Sir Godfrey Russell-Vick''' QC (24 December 1892 – 27 September 1958)<ref name="www">''Who Was Who 1897-2006'' (2007)</ref> was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal Party politician.

==Background== Born at Strathmore House, West Hartlepool, the youngest son of Richard William Vick JP and Emily ''née'' Oughtred, he was educated at the Leys School and Jesus College, Cambridge, and played rugby for Hartlepool Rovers.

He married Marjorie Hester Compston and the couple had two daughters and two sons, the younger of whom, Sir Arnold Russell-Vick, also became a barrister then a judge.<ref name="www"/>

==Professional career== In August 1914 Russell-Vick was commissioned into the 11th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, serving during World War I in France and Flanders. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1917,<ref name="www"/> and practised successfully as a criminal lawyer on the North East circuit.<ref name="wb">Wade Baron (1966) ''p.''58</ref> He served both as Chairman of the Bar Council and variously as Recorder of Richmond (1930-1931), Halifax (1931-1939) and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1939-1956). Sworn as King's Counsel in 1935, he was then appointed a County Court Judge, becoming a Bencher of the Inner Temple,<ref name="www"/> and knighted in 1950.<ref>1945 Hartlepool election leaflet</ref>

Russell-Vick's service on public enquiries included: *London County Council remand homes (1944);<ref name="wb"/> *The black market in petrol (1948);<ref name="wb"/> *Lynskey tribunal into political corruption (1948);<ref name="wb"/> *Ill-treatment of prisoners at HM Prison Liverpool (1958).<ref>Home Office (1958)</ref>

==Political career== He contested the constituency of Bishop Auckland at the 1918 General Election for the Coalition Liberals and finished second.

In 1919 Russell-Vick contested the constituency of Shoreditch in the 1919 London County Council election. He ran for the Liberal-backed Progressive Party and narrowly missed out on election.

He contested the constituency of the Hartlepools at the 1945 General Election for the Liberal Party coming third.

===Electoral record=== {{Election box begin | |title=General Election 1918: Bishop Auckland }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Labour Party (UK) |candidate = Benjamin Charles Spoor |votes = 10,060 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Coalition Liberal |candidate = '''Godfrey Russell-Vick''' |votes = 7,417 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Liberal Party (UK) |candidate = Dr Henzell Rutherford |votes = 2,411 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box majority| |votes = |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box turnout| |votes = |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box hold with party link| |winner = Labour Party (UK) |swing = }} {{Election box end}} 120px|thumb|Shoreditch in London {{Election box begin | |title=London County Council election, 1919: Shoreditch<ref>London Municipal Notes – Volumes 18-23, London Municipal Society</ref> }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Progressive Party (London) |candidate = {{Y}}Henry Ward |votes = 1,701 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Labour Party (UK) |candidate = {{Y}} Charles Taylor |votes = 1,464 |percentage = 35.3 |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Progressive Party (London) |candidate = '''Godfrey Russell-Vick''' |votes = 1,454 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Municipal Reform Party |candidate = Major William Weber |votes = 1,116 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Municipal Reform Party |candidate = Rosamund Smith |votes = 1,110 |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box majority| |votes = |percentage = |change = }} {{Election box hold with party link| |winner = Progressive Party (London) |swing = }} {{Election box gain with party link| |winner = Labour Party (UK) |loser = Progressive Party (London) |swing = }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin | |title=General Election 1945: The Hartlepools<ref>British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig</ref> }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Labour Party (UK) |candidate = David Thomas Jones |votes = 16,502 |percentage = 41.2 |change =n/a }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Conservative Party (UK) |candidate = Thomas George Greenwell |votes = 16,227 |percentage = 40.5 |change =-23.6 }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Liberal Party (UK) |candidate = '''Godfrey Russell-Vick''' |votes = 6,903 |percentage = 17.3 |change =n/a }} {{Election box candidate with party link| |party = Independent (politician) |candidate = Harry Lane |votes = 390 |percentage = 1.0 |change =n/a }} {{Election box majority| |votes = 275 |percentage = 0.7 |change =-46.0 }} {{Election box turnout| |votes = |percentage = 76.1 |change =+36.6 }} {{Election box gain with party link| |winner = Labour Party (UK) |loser = Conservative Party (UK) |swing =n/a }} {{Election box end}}

==See also== * Worshipful Company of Curriers

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Home Office (1945) "[http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref9733.html London County Council remand homes: report of Committee of Inquiry]" Cmd.6594 *Home Office (1958) "Allegations of Ill-Treatment of Prisoners in Her Majesty's Prison, Liverpool" Cmnd.503 *Ministry of Fuel and Power.Committee on Petrol Rationing Control (1948) "[http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref9226.html Evasions of petrol rationing control]" Cmd.7372 *{{ cite book | author=Wade Baron, S. | title=The Contact Man: The Story of Sidney Stanley and the Lynskey Tribunal | year=1966 | publisher=Secker & Warburg }} *''Who Was Who 1897-2006'' (2007) "[http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6204426 Vick, His Honour Judge Sir Godfrey Russell]", retrieved 25 August 2007 (subscription required)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vick, Godfrey Russell}} Category:1892 births Category:1958 deaths Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Durham Light Infantry officers Category:English barristers Category:Military personnel from County Durham Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Category:Members of the Inner Temple Category:Knights Bachelor Category:20th-century English judges Category:County Court judges (England and Wales) Category:Hartlepool Rovers players