A FORMER warden of an Oxford college and an expert in damages law has died aged 89.

Harvey McGregor QC was a barrister who wrote McGregor on Damages, widely recognised as the most authoritative work in its field.

He had settled on writing the book – now in its 19th edition – after looking for a specialist field where there was a gap in the market and finding the work Mayne on Damages, from 1856 and in its 11th edition, to be in desperate need of an update.

Mr McGregor took on the laborious task and revised it completely, signing a deal with legal publishers Sweet and Maxwell that saw it published in 1961 In Oxford he was best known for his time as Warden of New College, from 1985 to 1996, when he threw celebrated parties for dons and students.

As part of his entertainment he introduced regular musical evenings, including piano concerts in which he would duet with guests, and theatre productions when he would join actors to tread the boards.

He was born on February 25, 1926, to parents Agnes and William, a railway engineer, and was a pupil at Inverurie Academy in Aberdeenshire.

Afterwards he went to Scarborough Boys High School, a grammar school in North Yorkshire now called Graham School, and then applied to read history at The Queen’s College, Oxford.

He did national service with the RAF, serving as a Flying Officer from 1946 to 1948 and at Oxford switched to law and held the Hastings Scholarship.

After graduating, he took the first in a series of teaching posts in America, becoming Bigelow teaching fellow at Chicago University for a year.

Mr McGregor was called to the Bar in England from Inner Temple – one of the four Inns of Court that act as professional associations for barristers and judges – in 1955.

He spent some years away from the Bar, between 1963 and 1969, returning to America as a visiting professor of New York University and Rutgers University.

In 1962 he was made a doctor of juridical science at Harvard University, its highest law qualification.

Then back in England, he was consultant to the Law Commission from 1966 to 1973.

After his time in the United States he returned to the Bar, going into what is now Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers in London.

He was made a QC in 1978 and a bencher at Inner Temple in 1986, moving to Hailsham Chambers where he remained and was head of chambers up to 2000.

In 1985 he was elected warden of New College, in Oxford, where he was a senior fellow.

He had previously taught contract law at Wadham College.

After his wardenship at New College ended in 1996, he continued to practise as a barrister but put more time into pursuing his interests in the arts and moved to Edinburgh, Scotland.

There he would invite trainee musicians from musical colleges to perform for selected audiences.

Mr McGregor died peacefully in Edinburgh on June 27, after a short period of illness.

There will be a memorial service for Mr McGregor in New College chapel in Michaelmas Term, college warden Curtis Price said in an announcement.