Reminiscences of a Nearly Somebody

Not many writers have had careers that include being a solicitor, barrister, politician, judge and then priest. Then this is not an ordinary autobiography. It is a collection of various essays featuring highlights of a career. Peter Morrell has already published a number of thrillers and a book of collected sermons. Not many lawyers or even clergy can say that now!

This excellent book begins with the tale of the writer’s journey through post-war Germany in the 1960s. Memories of the second world war, which ended about 20 years before, were very real even then. That part of the book describes the countryside, German culture he encountered and most important of all the people he met.

Morrell had decided to perfect his language skills before going to university, after being turned down to read law. In the days before the internet and mobile phones, he had to rely on general delivery postal services for keeping in touch with his family. The generosity and kindness of strangers is striking, as he makes new friends, learns the language and deals with regional and local dialects.

Morrell then studied at Oxford and qualified as a solicitor before becoming a barrister. His judicial career started with an assistant recordership, before he was appointed a recorder and then a circuit judge. Next he swapped judicial robes for clerical robes when he was ordained. He was also a member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, which he continued after his retirement.

Morrell also went into politics, becoming a party treasurer and later standing unsuccessfully for parliament. It was an interesting time. With the country enduring the three-day week and power cuts, he canvassed votes in the mining areas of Ilkeston, Derbyshire which was a strong Labour mining constituency. He found the voters to be deeply conservative, but not Conservative voters.

I’d like to have read more about his legal career, including his time on the Mental Health Review Tribunal. He describes a bizarre interview to become a judge, which was mainly a chat about schools, and then his very odd swearing-in ceremony. He recounts the curious sentencing of an undertaker’s pallbearer, and then meeting him again when Morrell was himself conducting a funeral.

Morrell also advises on the optimum length for a closing speech by counsel and how solicitors should handle complex litigation: do nothing, wait for the other side to make a mistake and capitalise on it.

This is a very enjoyable book, and I hope there will be a further volume.

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury