Helenus Milmo


Sir Helenus Patrick Joseph Milmo, DL was an Irish lawyer in Britain and High Court judge.

Early life and education

Milmo was born in County Limerick, Ireland, on 24 August 1908, the third son of Daniel and Kathleen Milmo, but spent his early years in Furbogh, Galway Gaeltacht. Milmo attended St. Gerard's School, Downside School, and Trinity College, Cambridge; he was called to the Bar as a barrister.

Career

During the Second World War, Milmo was a member of MI5. Having previously worked under Kim Philby, Milmo was selected to investigate Philby in 1951, when Philby's espionage had become increasingly obvious. Milmo failed to elicit definitive answers and concluded "that Philby is and has been for many years a Soviet agent. But the case remained unproven." Milmo's peers were not entirely forgiving. "Some felt", wrote Peter Carter-Ruck when Milmo died in 1988, "that he was perhaps too much of a gentleman for that daunting task."
In 1961, Milmo was appointed a Queen's Counsel and in 1964 became a judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and was knighted.

Personal life

A Roman Catholic, in 1933 Milmo married Joan Frances Morley, the second daughter of Francis Morley of Sloan Court, Chelsea, London. The couple had five children:
  • Deirdre
  • Patrick, KC, a barrister
  • Verity
  • Shaun, a journalist
  • Patricia, a solicitor; she married Bennett Umunna in 1976
His grandson Chuka Umunna has been a British Member of Parliament. His other grandchildren include journalists Cahal and Daniel Milmo, and Marc, an investment banker and Director at finnCap.
Joan Milmo died in 1978, aged 71. Milmo's second marriage, in 1980, was to Mrs Anne Brand, the widow of Francis Bernard Brand. Mrs Brand was born Anne Gilmore O'Connell, the daughter of Maurice William O'Connell. Anne, Lady Milmo died at age 96.
Sir Helenus Milmo died in 1988 in Chichester, West Sussex.