John Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden

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John Frederick Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden Kt CBE (born June 26, 1906 in Halifax , West Yorkshire , according to other information in Swindon , Wiltshire ; † January 18, 1985 ) was a British scholar who was mainly known by the Wolfenden report named after him 1959, which called for the legalization of private homosexual acts between consenting adults over the age of 21, and who became a member of the House of Lords as a Life Peer under the Life Peerages Act in 1974 .

Life

Wolfenden, the son of a school administration officials, completed after visiting the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield to study philosophy at Queen's College of the University of Oxford , where from 1928 to 1929 a guest studies at the Princeton University joined. He then took up a position as a fellow and tutor for philosophy at Magdalen College, University of Oxford in 1929 , and taught there until 1934 when he was rector of the Uppingham School , founded in 1584 . In 1941 he was seconded to the Air Ministry to establish and manage an air force training corps. In 1942 he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

After ten years of service, he was subsequently rector of the Shrewsbury School, founded in 1552, between 1944 and 1950. During his work there, which lasted until 1950, he was also chairman of various working committees set up by the government that dealt with educational issues and problems of young people. In 1950, Wolfenden was Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading and in 1956 he was promoted to Knight Bachelor , so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir".

Between 1954 and 1957 he was chairman of a royal commission on homosexuality and prostitution , which in 1959 presented the Wolfenden report named after him . In it, the commission suggested the legalization of private homosexual acts between consenting adults over the age of 21. This recommendation was incorporated into law a few years later through the Sexual Offenses Act of 1967.

At the same time, Wolfenden acted on the initiative of the Central Council of Physical Recreation as chairman of another royal commission that dealt with sport, and presented a final report of its work in 1960.

In 1963 Wolfenden ended his work as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading and was then chairman of the University Grants Committee between 1963 and 1968 . In 1969 he succeeded Frank Francis as director and chief librarian of the British Museum and held this position until he was replaced by John Pope-Hennessy in 1974.

By a letters patent dated July 12, 1974 Wolfenden was raised as a life peer with the title Baron Wolfenden , of Westcott in the County of Surrey, to the nobility and was thus a member of the House of Lords until his death. In 1978 he was chairman of the upper house commission ( Wolfenden Committee ) named after him , which dealt with the work of voluntary organizations.

His son, Jeremy Wolfenden, who died in unexplained circumstances in 1965, was a foreign correspondent who worked as a spy during the Cold War .

Publications

  • The Approach to Philosophy. Edward Arnold, 1932.
  • The Purpose and Content of the Youth Service: A Report of the Youth Advisory Council Appointed by the Minister of Education in 1943. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1943.
  • The Public Schools To-day: A Study in Boarding School Education. University of London Press, 1948.
  • How to Choose Your School. Oxford University Press, 1952.
  • Three Duties of a Teacher. 1952.
  • The Changing World and Its Effect on Adolescent Behavior. Clarke Hall Fellowship, 1956.
  • The Educated Man Today and Tomorrow. SCM Press, 1959.
  • Capital Punishment: Death Or Redemption ?: a Discussion. Associated Television Limited, 1960.
  • The Creation of a Public Conscience. Shaftesbury Society, 1961.
  • Sport and the Community: The Report of the Wolfenden Committee on Sport. CCPE, 1962.
  • Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution: Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Secretary of State for Scotland by Command of Her Majesty, September 1957. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1962.
  • Report of the Committee on University Teaching Methods. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964.
  • The Report of the Royal Commission on Medical Education and Its Implications. Institute of Dental Surgery, 1968.
  • Law and Society: Toleration, Law, Order, Morality. Pendley Residential Center of Adult Education, 1970.
  • Treasures of the British Museum. Viking Press, 1972.
  • Turning points: The memoirs of Lord Wolfenden. Bodley Head, 1976.
  • The Future of Voluntary Organizations: Report of the Wolfenden Committee. Croom helmet, 1978.
  • Edited Extracts from Speeches. National Council of Social Service, 1978.

Web links and sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sport & the Community: The Report of the Wolfenden Committee on Sport , 1960 ( Memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sportdevelopment.info
personal data
SURNAME Wolfenden, John, Baron Wolfenden
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolfenden, John Frederick, Baron Wolfenden (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British scholar
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax , West Yorkshire (according to other sources: Swindon , Wiltshire)
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 1985