James Mould (lawyer)

Mould was born on 21 September 1893, the son of John Thomas Mould of Bury, Lancashire. He was educated at Bedford Modern School and University College London.[2] He qualified as an electrical engineer, obtaining a Ph.D in 1921.[6] He was later called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1923, building on his knowledge as an engineer by specialising in patent and design cases.[6]

Mould built his career as a barrister around patent and design cases.[1] In 1944, Mould served on the Swan Committee on the Patents and Designs Acts and, in 1947, served as a member of the Committee appointed by the Minister of Supply to inquire into the development and production of Tudor aircraft.[1] Of Mould’s career as a patent barrister, a tribute published in The Times on 11 April 1958 stated: With this happy and gregarious disposition he combined a conscientious devotion to his specialized field of activity…and an unswerving acceptance of the high Victorian standards of work and duty in which he had been educated.[7]

Mould was made King's Counsel in 1948 and a Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1950.[2] In his will, Mould created a scholarship for Pupillage candidates at Gray's Inn.[6]

In 1928 he married Alice May Hunt.[1] He died on 2 April 1958; a widow and a daughter survived him.[1] A tribute to Mould was published in The Times on 11 April 1958, written by someone with whom he had shared chambers for twenty years: At the end of a hard day in Court or a lengthy conference his happy stories and cheerful laughter would bubble up fresh and spontaneous when the strain of work was relieved.[7]