SIR BERNARD HALSEY BIRCHAM

Sir Bernard Halsey Bircham, G.C.V.O., who died at Stone Dial, Chilmark, Salisbury, yesterday, at the age of 76, held the appointment of private solicitor to King George V from 1922 until the King's death.

Bernard Edward Halsey Bircliam was the second son of Edward Joseph Halsey, of Henley Park, Surrey. and his wife, Katharine, daughter of F. T. Bircham, of Burhill, and was born on January 1, 1869. He assumed the additional surname of Bircham in 1895. He was at Eton from 1882 to 1884, in the Rev. Thomas Dalton's house. and was admitted a solicitor in 1891. In due course be rose to become senior partner in the firm of Bircham and Co.. which bas a large Parliamentary, commercial, and also private business, and has acted for such important bodies as the old London and South-Western Railway and the present London Passenger Transport Board. During the 1914-18 war he served for a time as an assistant legal adviser to the Ministry of Food. Becoming private solicitor to the King in 1922, he was made K.C.V.O. in 1925, and raised to G.C.V.O. in 1936

Sir Bernard Halsey Bircham had beer. a Surrey magistrate since 1909 and had served as chairman of the Surrey County Council. He married, in 1897, Ivy Clelia, eldest daughter of Arthur Powys Vaughan, late 60th Rifles and Home Office. They had one son.

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