Sir Helenus Patrick Joseph Milmo, DL (born Helenus Padraic Seosamh Milmo; 24 August 1908 – 30 August 1988)"Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes, 1845–1958" index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FBPQ-R6B; accessed 12 March 2014), BIRTHS entry for Helenus Padraic Seosamh Milmo; citing Limerick, July–September 1908, vol. 5, p. 334, General Registry, Custom House, Dublin; FHL microfilm 101072. was an Irish lawyer in Britain and High Court judge.
Early life and education Milmo was born in County Limerick, Ireland, on 24 August 1908, the third son of Daniel and Kathleen (née White) Milmo, but spent his early years in Furbogh, Galway Gaeltacht. Milmo attended St Gerard's School, Downside School and Trinity College, Cambridge; he was called to the Bar as a barrister."Milmo, Sir Helenus (Patrick Joseph)", Who Was Who, online edition published 1 December 2007, accessed 4 July 2025
Career During the Second World War, Milmo was a member of MI5."Nobody is talking" The Guardian, 18 February 2005 Having previously worked under Kim Philby, Milmo was selected to investigate Philby in 1951, when Philby's espionage had become increasingly obvious. Milmo failed to elicit definitive answers and concluded "that Philby is and has been for many years a Soviet agent. But the case remained unproven.""How MI5 spent 18 years hunting the spy it had already caught", The Times, 6 October 2009. Milmo's peers were not entirely forgiving. "Some felt", wrote Peter Carter-Ruck when Milmo died in 1988, "that he was perhaps too much of a gentleman for that daunting task."
In 1961, Milmo was appointed a Queen's Counsel and in 1964 became a judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and was knighted.Image of Milmo's 1964 swearing in, gettyimages.com; accessed 8 May 2015.
Personal life A Roman Catholic, in 1933 Milmo married Joan Frances Morley, the second daughter of Francis Morley of Sloan Court, Chelsea, London. The couple had five children. His grandson Chuka Umunna was a British Member of Parliament.
Joan Milmo died in 1978, aged 71. Milmo's second marriage, in 1980, was to Anne Brand.Notice of death of Anne, Lady Milmo, groups.google.com; accessed 30 November 2014.
Sir Helenus Milmo died in 1988 in Chichester, West Sussex.
References
External links Image at National Portrait Gallery (NPG), npg.org.uk; accessed 30 November 2014.