Author of the Barrister Character Who Was Rebellious, Self-Absorbed, and Thoroughly English in Mannerisms.
On Friday, January 16, 2009, John Mortimer died in his home in Oxfordshire, England at the age of 85. Mr. Mortimer was the creator of Horace Rumpole, a rebellious, cigar-smoking British barrister who defended criminal clients and tried most of his cases in London’s Old Bailey. Mr. Mortimer was a barrister himself and a member of the Queen’s Counsel, prosecuting many civil rights cases while he was in practice (and before he turned to writing humorous stories involving Rumpole).
Rumpole was a claret tippling barrister who frequented Pommeroy’s wine bar located on the Thames River, where he almost always ordered Chateau Thames Embankment (sometimes referred to as "Cooking Claret", "Pommeroy's Very Ordinary", "Pommeroy's Plonk", or "Chateau Fleet Street")—his words for a fairly inexpensive claret that was good at keeping him regular. He successfully defended many of his criminal defendants, but was never inducted into the Queen’s Counsel (a peer-voted elite club for barristers) or, as he labeled the members thereof, “Queer Customers.” Rumpole had disdain for most judges and fellow barristers, although he was known to give in almost constantly to his wife Hilda, also known as “She Who Must Be Obeyed.”
As an example of Rumpole’s outlook, here is a snippet from “Rumpole and the Primrose Path.” Rumpole was retained in a case that took him into the Candy Crocodile, a nightclub where there was lap dancing. Here is an exchange between Rumpole and one of the dancers:
“Bernard sent a message by a waiter to a girl who, gripping the fireman’s pole between her thighs, was leaning back and making flying motions with her arms. She arrived at our table and gave her name as Christine. I congratulated her on her gymnastic ability and asked if she had taken a course in pole-dancing.
‘No. Entirely self-taught.’”
We will miss Mr. Mortimer’s stories of Rumpole, a character that came to life and gave chuckles to his readers.