Claud Schuster, 1st Baron Schuster, (22 August 1869 – 28 June 1956), was a British barrister and civil servant noted for his long tenure as Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office. Born to a Mancunian business family, Schuster was educated at St. George's School, Ascot and Winchester College before matriculating at New College, Oxford in 1888 to read history. After graduation, he joined the Inner Temple with the aim of becoming a barrister, and was called to the Bar in 1895. Practising in Liverpool, Schuster was not noted as a particularly successful barrister, and he joined Her Majesty's Civil Service in 1899 as secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Local Government Act Commission.
After serving as secretary to several more commissions, he was made Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office in 1915. Schuster served in this position for 29 years under ten different Lord Chancellors, and with the contacts obtained thanks to his long tenure and his work outside the Office he became "one of the most influential Permanent Secretaries of the 20th century".Hall (2003) p.x His influence over decisions within the Lord Chancellor's Office and greater Civil Service led to criticism and suspicions that he was a "power behind the throne", which culminated in a verbal attack by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Hewart in 1934 during a session of the House of Lords. Schuster retired in 1944 and was elevated to the peerage. Despite being officially retired, he continued to work in government circles, such as with the Allied Commission for Austria and by using his seat in the House of Lords as a way to directly criticise legislation.
Early life and education
Schuster was born on 22 August 1869 to Frederick Schuster, a manager of the Manchester firm of merchants Schuster, Fulder and Company, and his wife Sophia Wood, the daughter of a lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army.Hall (2003) p.1 The family described themselves as "Unitarian" but were descended from Jews who had converted to Christianity in the mid-1850s and included other notable people such as Sir Arthur Schuster, Sir Felix Schuster, and later Sir George Schuster.Hall (2003) p.2 From the age of seven he was educated at St. George's School, Ascot, one of the most expensive preparatory schools in the country, but one known for harsh treatment; it was standard for the headmaster to flog pupils until they bled and force other students and staff to listen to their screams.Hall (2003) p.3 During the school holidays, he accompanied his father to Switzerland, where he developed a lifelong love of mountaineering and skiing.Hall (2003) p.4 He was president of the Alpine Club from 1938 to 1940.
When he was fourteen he was sent to Winchester College, which was known as both the most academic of the main public schools and also for its discomfort.Hall (2003) p.7 Schuster's time at St George's had prepared him for discomfort, however, and he was noted as being very proud of attending the school. While at Winchester, Schuster played Winchester College football and was occasionally involved in debates; he was not, however, noted as a particularly exceptional pupil.Hall (2003) p.6 He matriculated at New College, Oxford in 1888 and graduated with second-class honours in history in 1892; again, he was not noted as a particularly outstanding student, which was attributed to the time he spent enjoying himself rather than studying.Hall (2003) p.8 Despite his lack of academic brilliance he was invited to deliver the Romanes Lecture in 1949, an honour normally only given to the most eminent alumni of Oxford. After graduation, he unsuccessfully tried to become an examination fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.Hall (2003) p.11
Bar work and career change
After his failure to become a fellow of All Souls, Schuster joined the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1895. He practised in Liverpool and, though he was not noted as a particularly successful barrister, he became Circuit Junior of the Northern Circuit Bar in late 1895, an important position. By this point, Schuster was married and required a steady income to support his family, something which the bar was not providing.Hall (2003) p.12 With his love of the English language and the knowledge that he was "good with paper" Schuster decided to join Civil Service, with the intention of becoming a Permanent Secretary.
Schuster entered the Civil Service in 1899 and as a qualified lawyer was exempt from the required examinations, something that marked him as "different" from other civil service employees with whom he worked.Hall (2003) p.13 His first post was as secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Local Government Act Commission, which produced a report leading to the creation of the London County Council. After this he worked as a secretary to the Great Northern Railway and then for the workers' union at London & Smith's Bank Ltd. After his job at the union, he was noticed by Robert Morant, who employed him as a temporary legal assistant to the Board of Education on the understanding that the job would become permanent, which it did in 1907. In 1911, he was promoted to Principal Assistant Secretary, and after Morant was appointed to the English Commission under the National Insurance Act 1911, Schuster followed him by being appointed Chief Registrar of the Friendly Societies, which granted him a place on the Societies' committee.Hall (2003) p.14
In February 1912 he gave up his position as Chief Registrar to become Secretary (and then legal adviser) to the English Insurance Commission, with the newspapers of the time reporting that he had had "three promotions in two months", a consequence of his high standing with Morant. During this period he was also involved in drafting education bills with Arthur Thring. The commission was "a galaxy of future Whitehall stars",Hall (2003) p.15 and contained many individuals who would later become noted civil servants in their own right, including Morant, Schuster, John Anderson, Warren Fisher and John Bradbury.Hall (2003) p.22 The contacts Schuster made during his time on the committee were instrumental in advancing his career; as a lawyer rather than a dedicated civil servant he was considered an outsider, and the links he made – particularly the friendships he struck up with Fisher and Anderson – helped allay this to some extent.Hall (2003) p.26
He was knighted in 1913 for his services on various committees.
Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office In 1915, Sir Kenneth Muir Mackenzie, the Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Office, was close to retirement. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Haldane, believed that the duties of the lord chancellorship were too much for one man, and should be divided between a lord chancellor and a minister of justice.Hall (2003) p.44 As such, he looked for a Permanent Secretary who was a qualified lawyer and who could help him set up a Ministry of Justice after the war, appointing Schuster in early 1915. The two did not work together, however, until Haldane became Lord Chancellor for a second time in 1924;Hall (2003) p.45 he was forced to resign several months before Schuster started work on 2 July 1915 after being accused of pro-German sympathies.
Lords Buckmaster and Findlay (1915–1916, 1916–1919) The first Lord Chancellor under whom Schuster served was Lord Buckmaster, who was appointed on 27 May 1915.Hall (2003) p.72 Although most senior government offices at this time were held by wealthy aristocrats, the office of Lord Chancellor stood out as most of the appointees were lawyers from the middle class. Buckmaster was considered "the most plebeian of Lord Chancellors", as he was the son of a farmer and schoolteacher who later became a justice of the peace. Schuster became Permanent Secretary in July, a month after Buckmaster took his post, and immediately tried to make an impression on the workings of the office by modernising it; under the previous Permanent Secretary – who abhorred time-saving mechanisms – shorthand had been forbidden, and the office had owned only one typewriter.Hall (2003) p.43 Buckmaster and Schuster had similar outlooks on World War I, with both their sons serving on the Western Front; Schuster almost certainly helped write the 1915 memorandum Buckmaster circulated to Cabinet arguing that forces should be concentrated on the Western Front rather than spread out in an attempt to assault other areas.Hall (2003) p.74
H. H. Asquith resigned as Prime Minister in December 1916, and as a member of Asquith's cabinet Buckmaster followed him.Hall (2003) p.75 He was replaced by Lord Finlay who was appointed on 12 December.Hall (2003) p.79 Aged 74 when he was appointed, Finlay was the oldest person to be made Lord Chancellor since Lord Campbell, who was 80 when he was appointed in 1859, and his age showed, with his decisions being slow and cautious. Luckily, the job of the Lord Chancellor during the last two years of World War I was limited to maintaining the system rather than instituting any changes, and his tenure was uneventful. During this period Schuster was very influential in judicial appointments, phrasing his reports in such a way that Finlay could only logically accept one candidate.Hall (2003) p.80 Although Finlay was not a member of the War Cabinet, which limited his political influence to some extent, he was close friends with Lord Haldane and through Haldane Schuster made contacts with up and coming politicians such as Sir Alan Sykes and Jimmy Thomas; the group was described as "the future Labour Cabinet".Hall (2003) p.82 During Findlay's tenure as Lord Chancellor the question of a Ministry of Justice again came up; while the Law Society was in favour of such a department the Bar Council along with Schuster was opposed to any changes in the status quo, and as the person who prepared a report on the matter for the Lord Chancellor Schuster did his best to express his disapproval of any changes.Hall (2003) p.86 For his continued work in the Civil Service, Schuster was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1918. A year later, he was made a King's Counsel: an odd honour for a man who no longer practised as a barrister.
Lord Birkenhead (1919–1922) Finlay had been appointed on the conditions that he would not claim a pension (it was war-time, and there were already four retired Lord Chancellors claiming £5,000 per year pensions) and that he would resign when required.Hall (2003) p.83 Despite this he was surprised when he was dismissed after the 1918 general election, first hearing about it when it was mentioned in the newspapers. His replacement Lord Birkenhead was appointed on 14 January 1919, and was a controversial choice; he was only 46 when appointed and was unpopular with large sections of the Bar as a result; George V himself wrote to the Prime Minister before Birkenhead was appointed and said that "His Majesty does not feel sure that [Birkenhead] has established such a reputation in men's minds as to ensure that the country will welcome him to the second highest position which can be occupied by a subject of the Crown".Hall (2003) p.88 Birkenhead and Schuster established a strong partnership, and Schuster played a part in instituting Birkenhead's legal reforms, particularly those relating to the law of real property.Hall (2003) p.104