Bernard Halsey-Bircham

Born on 1 January 1869, he was the younger son of Edward Joseph Halsey, of Henley Park in Surrey, and his wife Katharine, daughter of F. T. Bircham, of Burhill.^[1] He attended Eton College and was admitted a solicitor in 1891.^[1] In 1895, he changed his surname to Halsey-Bircham.^[2]

Eventually, Halsey-Bircham became senior partner in the law firm of Bircham and Co., which practised in parliamentary and commercial law. During the First World War, he was a legal adviser to the Ministry of Food. In 1922, he was appointed private solicitor to King George V. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1925, and promoted to Knight Grand Cross after the King's death in 1936.^[1]

Halsey-Bircham had also been involved in local affairs. He was a magistrate in Surrey and chaired the county council. He died on 11 July 1945; by his wife Ivy Clelia, née Vaughan (a daughter of Arthur Powys-Vaughan), he left a son.^[1] Two photographic portraits of Halsey-Bircham are housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London.^[3]