Khaki Roberts
| Full name | Geoffrey Dorling Roberts | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 August 1886 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Exeter, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 7 March 1967 (aged 80) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Southwark, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||||||||||||||||
| University | St John's College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Barrister | ||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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Geoffrey Dorling Roberts (27 August 1886 – 7 March 1967), also known as Khaki Roberts, was an English barrister and international rugby union player.[1]
Biography
[edit]Born in Exeter, Roberts attended Exeter School and Rugby School. His childhood nickname "Khaki" was believed to have been coined due to his dark complexion, although it has also been said that he was first called the name at a school playground after he got covered in mud and resembled a Khaki-clad British soldier.[2]
Roberts played rugby in his youth, as a forward, and was capped three times for England. While attending St John's College, Oxford, Roberts won blues for rugby in 1908 and 1909.[3]
Admitted to the bar in 1912, Roberts was sent to France soon after with the Devonshire Regiment and received an OBE for his war service. He was appointment as King's Counsel in 1937 and served as Recorder of Exeter from 1932 to 1946. At the Nuremberg trials, Roberts was second in command of the British legal team.[4] He served as lead prosecutor in the high-profile trial of James Camb, accused of murdering actress Gay Gibson, and represented the Crown at the 1952 trial of child killer John Straffen.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "The lawyer they called 'Khaki, QC'". Daily Mirror. 8 March 1967.
- ^ "Many at memorial service". Bristol Evening Post. 14 April 1967.
- ^ "'Khaki' Roberts dies at 80". Liverpool Echo. 7 March 1967.
- ^ "'Khaki' Roberts, QC, dies at 80". Evening Standard. 7 March 1967.
- ^ "Mr. Geoffrey Roberts, Q.C." The Daily Telegraph. 8 March 1967.
External links
[edit]- Khaki Roberts at ESPNscrum
- 1886 births
- 1967 deaths
- English rugby union players
- England international rugby union players
- English King's Counsel
- 20th-century King's Counsel
- Rugby union forwards
- Rugby union players from Exeter
- Oxford University RFC players
- Lawyers from Devon
- Devonshire Regiment officers
- British Army personnel of World War I
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Exeter School
- People educated at Rugby School
- English prosecutors
- Alumni of St John's College, Oxford