A THANKSGIVING service celebrating the life and work of Judge Gerald Coles is to be held at York Minster on February 22, at 11am.

Judge Coles, who died in September last year leaving a widow and three sons, was educated at Colton School, Redcar, Brasenose College, Oxford, and at Harvard in the US.

He became a QC in 1976 and joined the Circuit Bench nine years later and in 1992 became the first resident judge at Bradford Crown Court.

He was also a prominent Freemason, becoming the Provincial Grand Master of the Masonic Province of Yorkshire, North and East Ridings, in 1995.

His work for charity became very well-known, particularly with the hospice movement and the refurbishment of the St William Window in the Minster.