Advocate St. John Robilliard was a very wonderful man who is much missed. He was born 17th September 1953. St. John attended Elizabeth College, Guernsey before going up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he took a first in law. He was a lecturer in law at the University of Manchester between 1976 and 1987. During this time he wrote and published two books, Religion and the Law: Religious Liberty in Modern English Law (MUP, Manchester, 1984) and Police Powers and the Individual (Blackwell, Oxford, 1986) co-authored with Jenny McEwan.

He qualified as an English Barrister in 1985 and left Manchester to return to the Channel Islands in 1987, working at Nigel Harris and Partners in Jersey. St. John developed a very specialist knowledge of the law of trusts and tax, together with Norman customary law and the constitutional law of the Islands.

St. John returned to Guernsey in 1994 joining the litigation department of Ozannes where he spent the rest of his career.

He was called to the Guernsey Bar as an Advocate of the Royal Court in 1996, becoming a partner of the firm in 1999. He acquired an additional specialism of Guernsey's housing law, writing at length on the subject and enjoying considerable success on behalf of those seeking licenses.

All the time his stature as a trusts lawyer grew ever greater. He wrote many articles for a great many journals, including the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review and Trusts & Trustees.

He lectured extensively and was a particularly animated and engaging speaker. He very much enjoyed public speaking. He was made an Academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law and featured prominently in the legal directories, being described as "absolutely superb", a "standout" with a "global reputation for advisory work". He was listed as a leading individual and one of the "eminent Guernsey trust law advocates".

St. John died suddenly and in tragic circumstances on Wednesday 15th April 2015, aged 61. His death came as a great shock to all who knew him. St. John was a very much loved man. He was unique. One meets many types of people in life but St. John was truly an individual. He was highly intelligent, with a different way of seeing things to others. He would come at a problem from a different direction and offer penetrating insight combined with his encyclopaedic knowledge of those areas of law close to his heart. He was an academic, but not dryly so. He had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh. He had laughter creases at the corners of his eyes, eyes which would narrow to the point of disappearing when he was really laughing.

St. John was a sociable man and enjoyed the company of others, ideally over a bottle or two of really good red wine. He was a lifelong vegetarian. He loved cheese to the point of addiction. He loved a good cigar too. He enjoyed the finer things in life combined with a colourful dress sense all of his own. He was always good company - interesting, entertaining and stimulating. He loved books and kept an extensive library in his home. It is a part of this project to digitise key texts from his library. His books also formed a part of his legacy.

Many are soon forgotten, but not St. John. The memory of him lives strong; he lives on in the minds of those who knew him. His work also lives on and his endowment of the study of customary law will help to maintain the laws and customs, and therefore the identity and autonomy, of the Islands he loved so much.