John Wolfenden

John Wolfenden (1906–1985) chaired the Wolfenden Committee that led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.

John Wolfenden was born in Reading and studied at Oxford. He was headmaster of Uppingham School from 1934 to 1944 and Shrewsbury School in 1944. In 1950 he became Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading.

In 1954 Wolfenden was appointed to lead a departmental committee considering the issues or homosexuality and prostitution. The committee's report, published in 1957 and known as the Wolfenden Report, recommended that sexual acts between consenting adults in private should no longer be against the law.

In 1956 he received a knighthood. From 1969 to 1973 he was Director of the British Museum. He became a life peer in 1974 as Baron Wolfenden. He had a gay son, Jeremy Wolfenden.

Recent portrayal
The story of the Wolfenden Committee was told in the 2007 BBC drama Consenting Adults, written by Julian Mitchell and starring Charles Dance (John Wolfenden) and Sean Biggerstaff (Jeremy Wolfenden). .