John Wheatley, Lord Wheatley

The Right Honourable
Lord Wheatley
Senator of the College of Justice
In office
2000–2011
Personal details
Born
John Francis Wheatley

(1941-05-09) 9 May 1941 (age 83)
SpouseBrownwen Fraser
ResidenceKinross-shire
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
ProfessionAdvocate

John Francis Wheatley, Lord Wheatley, PC (born 9 May 1941)[1] is a Scottish lawyer and retired Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, sitting in the High Court of Justiciary and the Inner House of the Court of Session. He is an authority on road traffic law. His father, John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, was Lord Justice Clerk between 1972 and 1985, the second-most senior judge in Scotland.

Early life

Wheatley was born the son of John Thomas Wheatley and Agnes Nichol. His father, a distinguished lawyer, had served as Solicitor General and Lord Advocate, before being appointed a judge and rising to the rank of Lord Justice Clerk, the second-most senior judge in Scotland. The young Wheatley was educated at his father's former school, Mount St Mary's College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in Derbyshire, and studied at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh.[2][3]

Wheatley was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1966, and appointed Standing Counsel to the Scottish Development Department in 1971, and Advocate Depute in 1975. He was appointed a Sheriff of Tayside, Central and Fife in 1979, serving at Dunfermline from 1979 to 1980, and at Perth from 1980 to 2000. In 1998 he was promoted Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife. He was appointed a Temporary High Court Judge in 1992 and took silk in 1993.[2][3]


In 2000, Wheatley was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session, Scotland's Supreme Courts, taking the judicial title, Lord Wheatley. From 2002 to 2006, he was Chairman of the Judicial Studies Committee, the body responsible for the training of judges.[2] He was promoted to the Inner House of the Court of Session, and to the Privy Council, in 2007.[3]

In the 2021 mini-series A Very British Scandal, Wheatley was played by Jonathan Aris.[4]

Personal life

Lord Wheatley married Bronwen Fraser in 1970, with whom he has two sons. He stood as the Labour Party candidate in Dumfries in the February and October 1974 general elections. His recreations include gardening and music, and he is the founder, and current President, of the Faculty of Advocates' football team, Faculty Phantoms FC.[2] He lives in Fossoway, Kinross-shire.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014. Lord Wheatley, a former Senator of the College of Justice in Scotland, 72
  2. ^ a b c d "Biographies - The Right Hon Lord Wheatley". Scottish Court Service. Archived from the original on 4 October 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "Privy Council Appointment of Lord Wheatley". 10 Downing Street. 16 February 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  4. ^ "A Very British Scandal release date: Cast, trailer and plot for BBC One drama". Radio Times. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2023.