George Engle

Sir George Lawrence Jose Engle KCB QC (13 September 1926 – 14 September 2016)[1] was a British barrister and First Parliamentary Counsel between 1981 and 1987.

Engle was a contemporary at Charterhouse (where he was in Hodgsonites) of Gerald Priestland, William Rees-Mogg and Simon Raven.[2] He was a distinguished scholar, being Head of School and editor of The Carthusian school magazine.[3]

Before going up to Christ Church, Oxford to read Mods and Greats, Engle completed his National Service in the Royal Artillery. He took a double-First degree. Although he considered becoming an academic philosopher, he opted for the law, being called to the Bar in 1953 from Lincoln's Inn[4] and taking a post with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in 1957, drafting government bills. He was seconded to Nigeria to draft legislation in 1965 until 1967.[5] Engle was appointed C.B. in 1976,[6] and K.C.B. in 1983[7] having become First Parliamentary Counsel in 1981. Engle was also appointed Queen's Counsel in 1983,[8][9][10] and Bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1984. Retiring in 1986, he retained an interest in legislation as a member of the Hansard Society's commission on the legislative process.[11] Engle was a founder of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel.[12]

Engle was noted for a vast library, containing, alongside major works, very obscure books.[13] He was president of the Kipling Society from 2001 to 2008.[14] He died 14 September 2016, survived by his wife of sixty years, Irene (née Lachmann;[15] sister of immunologist Sir Peter Lachmann),[16] three daughters, and grandchildren.[17][18][19] Both Engle and his wife were Jewish.[20][21]