THERE was barely a tear shed, but lots of laughter and giggles, during a tribute to one of the area’s much loved characters.

It was what it said on the label (Order of Service) – a funeral service and thanksgiving for the life of Judge David Elgan Hugh Edwards, who died on January 28, aged 72 after being ill for a year.

The occasion at Chester Cathedral was very much a mirror image of the man – the traditional coupled with a fun-loving side which would have been unthinkable in a judge not so very long ago.

You have to be important to have five city centre streets closed off for you on a busy Friday afternoon, but that is what happened to allow the great and the good to gather together to pay their respects to the Recorder of Chester, the nation’s longest serving circuit judge.

The three hymns at the service were ones that everyone knows; there was a New Testament reading, a poem and an anthem, but the highlight was a eulogy to Elgan Edwards by close friend Stephen Clarke, a retired judge on the Wales and Chester Circuit.

Judge Clarke referred to his friend as a “fine public speaker”. Well he didn’t do a bad job himself as he entertained hundreds of mourners with a combination of his late colleague’s lengthy CV alongside amusing anecdotes about a man who was the area’s leading judge for a quarter of a century.

Judge Clarke said Judge Edwards’ wife Carol and the family has been “overwhelmed” by the number of messages of sympathy they had received and it was, he said, a great honour to have been asked by them to deliver the eulogy to a “fine judge” with a” fine legal brain with penetrating intellect, good judgement and boundless enthusiasm”.

His remarks were intended to be a celebration of a man who had “left us too soon”.

Judge Clarke referred to Judge Edwards’ “great sense of humour”. He said he was a “story-telling legend with stories repeated and refined time after time”. And the late Judge Edwards was a “great source of laughter and gossip” who was very much in demand in social circles.

“He was the first to arrive at a party and the last to leave,” said Judge Clarke.

He added of the father-of-four: “He loved life, he loved his work but most of all he loved his family.”

Judge Clarke spoke of the day he, Judge Edwards and Judge Roger Dutton were making their way to the City Club for lunch when they ran into a man who was, as they say, ‘no stranger to the courts’. Judge Edwards and the gentleman, Billy Owen, stopped and “they had a quick chat about sentencing policies.

“It spoke volumes about Elgan” said Judge Clarke.

He said Judge Edwards had been looking forward to getting back to work after his long illness and to arranging his retirement party, adding: “It would have been some do.”

And he summed up: “He really was a man for all seasons. He was a remarkable man. We will miss him but we will never forget him.”

The congregation left feeling well entertained and without a tear in sight.

Judge Elgan Edwards

Elgan Edwards had been the Recorder of Chester since 1997.

He had practised law on the Chester and North Wales Circuit and presided in courts including Chester, Warrington, Mold, Caernarfon, Dolgellau and Welshpool.

He was the area’s most senior judge and was qualified to preside at murder trials.

He sat at the Old Bailey and Appeal Court hearings in London and was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2002.

He had served as a Chester city councillor and was Sheriff of Chester in 1977-78 and was a member of the City Club in Chester and president in the year 2000.

He twice stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative Parliamentary candidate in the 1970s, in Meirionnydd and Stockport South.

He raised thousands of pounds for a number of local charities.

He was a former Chester FC season ticket holder and enjoyed Manchester United games from the Stretford End.

He also enjoyed visits to Lancashire County Cricket Club and Chester Races.

He was born in Rhyl and went to the town’s former grammar school.

He was president of the Students’ Union at the University of Wales.

He was called to the Bar at Graves Inn in 1967.

The service

THE welcome and prayer was given by the Dean of Chester, the Very Rev Prof Gordon McPhate.

Hymns at the service were Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, The Lord's My Shepherd and Jerusalem, while the cathedral choir sang Nunc Dimittis.

A reading from the New Testament was given by Keith Smalls, Judge Edwards’ brother-in-law and a poem, Crossing the Bar, by George Tennyson, was read by Freddie Storrar, Judge Edwards’ godson.

A blessing was given by the Bishop of Chester, the Right Rev Dr Peter Forster.

A committal service for family members only at Blacon Crematorium was followed by a reception at the Pavilion at Chester Racecourse.

Donations were for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd at Backford.