Sir Nicholas Wall, formerly Britain’s most senior family law judge, has killed himself after being diagnosed with a rare form of dementia, his family has said.

The judge had been appointed as President of the Family Division in 2010 but was forced to retire on health grounds two years later.

He was initially diagnosed with depression but this was recently changed to frontotemporal dementia which typically affects the ability to understand words.

His family placed a notice in The Times. It said he had “died by his own hand" on 17 February.

“After years of suffering, he was recently diagnosed with a rare dementia of the fronto-temporal lobe”, it said.

The death notice quoted a verse from Alfred,Lord Tennyson’s poem Tithonus:

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall,

The vapours weep their burthen to the ground,

Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath,

And after many a summer dies the swan.

In a later statement, the family said: "We are sad to confirm the death of Nicholas Wall, who was not only a highly respected former president of the Family Division but also a much loved husband, father and grandfather.

"Sir Nicholas took his own life having suffered for several years from a rare neurological disease called fronto-temporal lobe dementia that had only recently been diagnosed.

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"The family will make no further comment and asks to be left in privacy to grieve."

The Family Law Bar Association (FLBA) described Sir Nicholas as “a compassionate judge who thought and cared deeply about the outcome of his cases”.

Sir James Munby, his successor as President of the Family Division, said: "On and off the Bench and to the wide admiration of those who practise in family law, Sir Nicholas often spoke with passion, and in plain language, about the importance of family life, the good practice of family law, and the proper administration and resourcing of family justice.

He added: "He was appropriately outspoken about the plight of children caught up in the midst of parental conflict. He expressed his deep concern again and again about the impact of domestic abuse on children and on family life.

"Sir Nicholas' life was one of very great achievement and he has left us a formidable and enduring legacy."

A spokesman for Kent Police said: “At 2.15am on Friday 17 February 2017 Kent Police received a report stating that a 71-year-old man had died suddenly at an address in Sevenoaks.