Biographical Information
Welcome to my web site. My name is Alisdair Gillespie and I am 25 years old. I was originally born in Scotland although for the past 23 years I have lived in England.
At present I live in Durham (to see where Durham is in the UK click here). I am qualified as a barrister having been called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. I do not work in independent practice, however, but am basing myself in academia. I was awarded my LL.B.(Hons) in 1995 and went from there to the Inns of Court School of Law. After my call, I worked for the Child Support Agency for a little under a year, before going to the University of Durham to read for my Masters degree by research. My thesis, on the treatment of child victims of abuse by the criminal justice system, is currently being examined, but after the period of supervision for my Masters degree ended, I began reading for my Ph.D. My topic of research is the judicial scrutiny of care plans, and legal protection of children in local authority care.
Along with my Ph.D. research, I also teach at the University. I am currently responsible for the tutoring of Criminal Law to undergraduates. Criminal Law is an interesting subject which makes it enjoyable to teach. I also undertake my own personal research, and I have published in several professional and academic journals, principally on child law.
Outside of my academic life, I have a great interest in naval history, primarily the history of the Royal Navy. (This should be apparent from my web site, as the majority of the site concerns the Royal Navy!) I don't really remember when I first became interested in the Navy, although I imagine most youngsters are fascinated by the sight of warships, and reading about the exploits of Horatio Hornblower only helped to increase my fascination. Due to bad eyesight I was never able to join the Royal Navy, and instead went into the law. However, my interest in the Navy has increased rapidly and I have established a growing library on naval history texts. I hope in time, to start expanding the naval section of my site to include history from the time of the Napoleonic times, together with analysis of major battles etc. from the twentieth-century.
My love of the sea can also be seen from my other principal activity which is to help the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (the RNLI). The RNLI has existed for some 175 years and is a familiar sight to those within the United Kingdom. The RNLI exists solely to save lives at sea. It provides lifeboat cover throughout the United Kingdom and Eire, and is available 365 days a year. The RNLI receives no money from the government, but relies on the support of the general public. It has remained this way since its creation. It is a testament to the UK and Eire public, that the RNLI can keep so many lifeboat stations operational. I help out by being a Governor member of the RNLI and also from helping out my local branch. Branches of the RNLI are spread out across the country. They raise funds by selling souvenirs, by undertaking raffles and collection days etc. and help raise awareness of the RNLI. It is one of the oddities of life that the majority of the members of the public know who the RNLI is when asked, but quite often forget that we are a charity. My site contains some information on the RNLI, but its primary purpose is to serve as a link to the official RNLI web site. The official web site contains loads more information and also details of how to help.
Other interests of mine include music (with a weird and varied taste of music from classical to heavy-metal and with many different forms in between), cycling, and reading. This site has a whole array of links to music and book shops on the internet. I have been shopping on the internet for a couple of years now, and so long as you go to reputable stores (like CD NOW, Amazon.co.uk etc.) it is a useful method of shopping. One of my latest discoveries is a second-hand book-finding service which is truly excellent. Through using the Bibliofind service, I have managed to find all sorts of rare and out-of-print books from all over the world.
I hope you enjoy my web site. If you have any comments, queries or suggestions, please Email me with them. I welcome all helpful feedback. I will be amending this site as frequently as time permits so keep returning. I hope you find the links I provide useful and if you wish to submit a relevant link then please feel free to email me the details.
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