James Joseph ('JJJ') Judge

James Joseph ('JJJ') Judge
Born	1869
Died	1954
Residence	15 Hill Park Crescent, Plymouth 2 Apsley Road, Plymouth [1919] 38 Looe Street, Plymouth [1935] Virginia House, Palace Street, Plymouth, Devon [1949]
Occupation	editor
Society Membership membership ordinary fellow elected_AI 1907.12.10 societies Royal Institute of British Architects

Notes

House Notes

1907.11.19 proposed by A.S. Quick, seconded by A.L. Lewis

Notes From Elsewhere

Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, James Joseph Judge (1869-1954), or JJJ to his friends, had a close personal friendship with the Astors. He is not as widely known as he deserves to be, but he certainly did a lot for Plymouth.

Judge came to Plymouth in the early 1900s. He was the editor of the Western Evening Herald newspaper until 1921, and assistant editor of the Western Independent until 1946.

Judge was also heavily involved in social work and was a tireless supporter of social causes. He was the founder of the Plymouth Civic Guild of Help, later the Plymouth Council of Social Service. He was also the ‘corner-stone’ of Nancy Astor’s Virginia House Settlement (VHS). Formally opened in December 1925 in a series of buildings on Looe Street near The Barbican, the VHS offered local people facilities for training, employment, entertainment and socialising.

There was a meeting room, gymnasium, billiard room, music room and a dance hall. Smaller rooms hosted cooking, carpentry, dressmaking and singing classes. Writing classes were held in a library. Over 1,000 people were members and it was hugely popular with many clubs and societies including a mothers’ club, youth club, men’s club, soccer team and boxing club.

Judge also helped establish a number of day nurseries in the city, worked with people who had been crippled and those who had suffered from tuberculosis.

The Plymouth and West Devon Record Office holds the J. J. Judge papers. This archive is packed with documents linking him to Nancy Astor who affectionately referred to him as ‘Judie Judge‘. He was a regular visitor at Cliveden, the Astor family home. As a result, he became close to all Nancy’s family as well as some of her others friends including George Bernard Shaw and T. E. Lawrence.

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Plymouth and West Devon Record Office holds the J. J. Judge papers