| The Lord Neill of Bladen | |
| Term Start: | 1985 |
| Term End: | 1989 |
| 1Namedata: |
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| Term Start2: | 1977 |
| Term End2: | 1995 |
| Term Label3: | Life peerage |
| Term Start3: | 28 November 1997 |
| Term End3: | 18 May 2016 |
| Birth Name: | Francis Patrick Neill |
| Birth Date: | 8 August 1926 |
| Children: | 6 |
Francis Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen, (8 August 1926 - 28 May 2016) was a British barrister and a crossbench member of the House of Lords.
A son of Sir Thomas Neill, Patrick Neill was educated at Highgate School and Magdalen College, Oxford.[1]
He became a barrister in 1951 and took silk in 1966. After heading One Hare Court, he became head of chambers of Serle Court in Lincoln's Inn when the two merged in 1999.[2] He worked alongside Henry Fisher, Roger Parker, Gordon Slynn, and Richard Southwell QC. Lord Neill left Serle Court in 2008 to join his elder brother Sir Brian Neill, a former Court of Appeal judge, at 20 Essex Street.[3]
He was Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1977 until 1995, and appointed an Honorary Fellow in 1995. He was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1985 until 1989,[4] and played a major part in the University's decision to undertake The Campaign for Oxford. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2003 University of Oxford Chancellor election.
Neill was the younger brother of the paediatrician Catherine Neill (1921–2006) and of the judge Sir Brian Neill (1923–2017). In 1954 he married Caroline Susan Debenham, daughter of Sir Piers Kenrick Debenham.[5] They had six children.He died in May 2016 at the age of 89.[6]
Having been knighted in 1983, Neill was made a Life Peer as Baron Neill of Bladen, of Briantspuddle in the County of Dorset, on 28 November 1997. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher until 18 May 2016, at which point he ceased to be a member pursuant to section 2 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, having failed to attend during the whole of the 2015–16 session without being on leave of absence.[7]
| Escutcheon: | Gyronny of six Or and Sable three cinquefoils two and one Gules and three lilies one and two Argent slipped and seeded Or. |
| Crest: | A mount Vert thereon between two harps Or an oak tree Proper fructed Or.[8] |
| Motto: | Respice Finem |
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