A former Leeds Grammar School pupil has now been appointed to become the second most senior judge in England and Wales.
Leeds-born Lord John Dyson has been appointed as the Master of the Rolls, the head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales, and will take up his role at the start of the new judicial term on October 1.
The appointment to become the second most senior judge in England and Wales follows the announcement of Lord David Neuberger’s appointment as President of the Supreme Court.
Master of the Rolls is the title of an English judge ranking immediately below the Lord Chief Justice.
Lord Dyson will preside over the Court of Appeal and be responsible for the records of the Chancery Court.
A high court judge from 1993-2001, Lord Dyson became presiding judge of the Technology and Construction Court, a specialist part of the Queen’s Bench Division.
As Lord Justice Dyson he was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2001 and two years later he was made deputy head of civil justice.
In 2010 he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court when he was one of four judges who were shortlisted for the position.
“I am delighted and honoured to hear that I have been appointed as the master of the rolls,” he said.
“I am looking forward greatly to working in the court of appeal again.”
Lord Dyson, now aged 69, was five when he attended Ingledew College in Leeds where he was regarded as a star pupil.
As a junior he attended Leeds Grammar School which he described as being “a bit of a wakeup call” because he only scraped into the bottom of the third tier of the classes.
It was when he reached senior school that he knuckled down and soon found himself in the top stream.
Lord Dyson praised Dame Fanny Waterman to whom he says he owes a considerable debt of gratitude.
He married Jacqueline Levy in 1970 with whom he has a son and daughter.