George Archer-Shee

George Archer-Shee (6 May 1895 – 31 October 1914) was a Royal Navy cadet whose case of whether he stole a five shilling postal order was decided in the High Court of Justice in 1910.

The theft occurred on 7 October 1908, shortly after the start of the autumn term, when a cadet named Terence Hugh Back received a postal order from a relative for five shillings.

They were devout Roman Catholics and the background in banking meant all the sons had been brought up to regard misuse of money as sinful.

He also contacted his son Major Martin Archer-Shee, the half brother of George, who was active in politics (in 1910 he became Member of Parliament for Finsbury Central in North London).

Major Archer-Shee obtained the services of Sir Edward Carson, regarded as one of the United Kingdom's best barristers of the age, who had a son at Osborne.

Carson's opening remarks set the tone of the case: A boy 13 years old has been labelled and ticketed for all his future life as a thief and a forger.

That little boy from the day that he was first charged, up to this moment, whether in the ordeal of being called in before his Commander and his Captain, or whether under the softer influences of the persuasion of his own loving parents, has never faltered in the statement that he is innocent.Carson soon proved that the grounds on which the Admiralty had dismissed Archer-Shee were unsubstantiated.

On the fourth day of the trial, the Solicitor-General accepted the statement that George Archer-Shee did not cash the postal order "and consequently that he is innocent of the charge.

As most MPs supported compensation, the Admiralty was forced to concede to a judicial hearing to decide the matter, otherwise the business would be "lost" (a parliamentary term meaning postponed, not dismissed, to a future day).

Following the hearing, John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey agreed the family should be paid £4,120 to cover their costs, and £3,000 compensation "in full settlement of all demands" (equivalent to £920,000 in 2023).

[4][5] With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Archer-Shee returned to Britain and served as a lieutenant in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment.