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Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe
Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe, GBE, PC, FBA (30 March 1899 – 1 April 1977), was a British lawyer and Law Lord best known for his role in the Partition of India. He served as the first chancellor of the University of Warwick from its 1965 foundation until 1977.
Radcliffe was born in Llanychan, Denbighshire, Wales, third of the four children — all sons — of Captain Alfred Ernest Radcliffe, of the King's Own Royal Regiment, and Sybil Harriet, daughter of solicitor Robert Cunliffe, President of the Law Society of England and Wales between 1890 and 1891.
Radcliffe was educated at Haileybury College. He was conscripted in World War I, allocated to the Labour Corps because of his poor eyesight. After the war, he attended New College, Oxford, and took a first in literae humaniores in 1921. In 1922, he was elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. He won the Eldon Law Scholarship in 1923.
He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1924, joining the chambers of Wilfred Greene, later the Master of the Rolls. He practised at the Chancery bar, and was appointed a King's Counsel in 1935.
During World War II, Radcliffe joined the Ministry of Information becoming its Director-General by 1941, where he worked closely with the Minister Brendan Bracken. In 1944, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). He returned to the bar in 1945.
Radcliffe, a man who had never been east of Paris, was given the chairmanship of the two boundary committees set up with the passing of the Indian Independence Act. Radcliffe was tasked with drawing borders for the new nations of Pakistan and India to leave as many Sikhs and Hindus in India and Muslims in Pakistan as possible within five weeks. Radcliffe submitted his partition map on 9 August 1947, which split Punjab and Bengal, almost in half. The new boundaries were formally announced on 17 August 1947 – three days after Pakistan's independence and two days after India became independent of the United Kingdom.
The resulting partition of India saw some 14 million people – roughly seven million from each side – flee across the border when they discovered the new boundaries left them in the "wrong" country. In the ensuing violence, between 200,000 to 2,000,000 people were killed, and millions more were injured. After seeing the mayhem occurring on both sides of the boundary, Radcliffe refused his salary of 40,000 rupees (then 3,000 pounds). He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1948.
Speaking of his experience as the chairman of boundary committees, he later said:
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Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe
Cyril John Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe, GBE, PC, FBA (30 March 1899 – 1 April 1977), was a British lawyer and Law Lord best known for his role in the Partition of India. He served as the first chancellor of the University of Warwick from its 1965 foundation until 1977.
Radcliffe was born in Llanychan, Denbighshire, Wales, third of the four children — all sons — of Captain Alfred Ernest Radcliffe, of the King's Own Royal Regiment, and Sybil Harriet, daughter of solicitor Robert Cunliffe, President of the Law Society of England and Wales between 1890 and 1891.
Radcliffe was educated at Haileybury College. He was conscripted in World War I, allocated to the Labour Corps because of his poor eyesight. After the war, he attended New College, Oxford, and took a first in literae humaniores in 1921. In 1922, he was elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. He won the Eldon Law Scholarship in 1923.
He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1924, joining the chambers of Wilfred Greene, later the Master of the Rolls. He practised at the Chancery bar, and was appointed a King's Counsel in 1935.
During World War II, Radcliffe joined the Ministry of Information becoming its Director-General by 1941, where he worked closely with the Minister Brendan Bracken. In 1944, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). He returned to the bar in 1945.
Radcliffe, a man who had never been east of Paris, was given the chairmanship of the two boundary committees set up with the passing of the Indian Independence Act. Radcliffe was tasked with drawing borders for the new nations of Pakistan and India to leave as many Sikhs and Hindus in India and Muslims in Pakistan as possible within five weeks. Radcliffe submitted his partition map on 9 August 1947, which split Punjab and Bengal, almost in half. The new boundaries were formally announced on 17 August 1947 – three days after Pakistan's independence and two days after India became independent of the United Kingdom.
The resulting partition of India saw some 14 million people – roughly seven million from each side – flee across the border when they discovered the new boundaries left them in the "wrong" country. In the ensuing violence, between 200,000 to 2,000,000 people were killed, and millions more were injured. After seeing the mayhem occurring on both sides of the boundary, Radcliffe refused his salary of 40,000 rupees (then 3,000 pounds). He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1948.
Speaking of his experience as the chairman of boundary committees, he later said: