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My friend Bryan Bush, who has died aged 77, was a judge whose impartiality and integrity gave him the ability to perform his role fairly and without self-aggrandisement. He combined legal knowledge and inherent wisdom with a gentle personality. It was a pleasure for barristers to appear in his court, particularly young members of the bar, who knew that he would always treat them with the utmost civility.
Born in Leeds to Maurice, a cabinet-maker, and his wife Hetty, Bryan attended Leeds grammar school, where he stood out both academically and in sport, before going to Keble College, Oxford, where he studied Greats (classics and humanities) and then law. He also gained a half-blue in table tennis.
After university he returned to Leeds to work for his bar finals before, in 1966, setting up a predominantly civil law practice in Bradford. In 1978 he was headhunted to join Louis Lawton QC's chambers in London. He became a recorder, and then, at the age of 46, a judge on the north-eastern circuit, having earned his reputation by speedily producing judgments that were concise and considered, yet comprehensive. He spent a lot of his time sitting in Leeds in mercantile and family courts.
Bryan made his decisions according to the principles of justice and an understanding of the frailties of human beings. He was known for his keen interest in cars and envied for his beautiful blue MGB GT, though admirers did not have the same enthusiasm for his yellow sports car, which was a Fiat.
He is survived by his wife, Jackie, his children, Danny, Stephen and Alix, and four grandchildren.
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