TRIBUTES have been paid to Judge Henry Aidan Kershaw, the former senior judge who was well known and respected in many spheres of Bolton life.

As reported in later editions of last night's BEN, Judge Kershaw died on Sunday at the age of 68, just over three years after his retirement.

He was appointed a judge on the Northern Circuit in 1976 and was Bolton's senior judge at the town's combined Crown and County Court for eight years until his retirement in 1992.

He read law at Oxford and was called to the Bar in 1953. From 1970 to 71 he served as Assistant Recorder of Oldham and was Deputy Chairman of the Agricultural Land Tribunal in 1972.

Judge Kershaw, of St Andrew's Road, Lostock was deeply involved in the community. And unlike many judges who lead intensely private lives, he maintained his active involvement in many local organisations after his appointment as a judge. For three years from 1954, he was a Conservative representative for Darcy Lever and Breightmet on Bolton Council. But he was best known in the town for his sporting connections. After his family - he leaves his wife Daphne, four sons and eight grandchildren - his great passions were skiing and golf. Judge Kershaw, son of the late Rev Henry Kershaw, Vicar of St Matthew's, Halliwell, was a former Commodore of Bolton Sailing Club, former captain of Bolton Golf Club, and founder of the Lancashire Schools' Golf Association.

Late in life he developed an interest in horse riding. And he was an accomplished oil painter and keen musician.

In 1992 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Bolton Institute for his outstanding contribution to the life of Bolton.

Paying tribute to Judge Kershaw at Bolton Crown Court, his close friend and successor as senior judge, Judge Michael Lever QC said he was "a loyal colleague, firm but kind".

He said the cliche that judges were out of touch with everyday life certainly did not apply to Judge Kershaw. He recalled that, as a young man, Judge Kershaw had served in the Royal Navy and at one time had been "the best scrum half in the North-west". Judge Lever described him as "a family man par excellence".

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