John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge

For other people named John Coleridge, see John Coleridge (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable The Lord Coleridge PC
Lord Coleridge.
2nd Lord Chief Justice of England
In office 29 November 1880 – 14 June 1894
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Alexander Cockburn, Bt
Succeeded by	The Lord Russell of Killowen
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
In office November 1873 – 20 November 1880
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir William Bovill
Succeeded by	Himself as Lord Chief Justice of England
Attorney General for England
In office 10 November 1871 – 20 November 1873
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	Robert Collier
Succeeded by	Henry James
Solicitor General for England
In office 12 December 1868 – 10 November 1871
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	Sir Richard Baggallay
Succeeded by	Sir George Jessel
Personal details
Born	John Duke Coleridge 3 December 1820 Ottery St Mary, Devon United Kingdom
Died	Westminster, London United Kingdom
Nationality	United Kingdom
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Jane Fortescue Seymour Amy Augusta Jackson Lawford (1885–1894)
Relations	John Taylor Coleridge (Father)
Children	Bernard Coleridge Stephen Coleridge 1 Other Son 1 Daughter
Alma mater	Eton College Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Barrister, Politician

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge, PC (3 December 1820 – 14 June 1894) was a British lawyer, judge and Liberal politician. He held the posts, in turn, of Solicitor General for England and Wales, Attorney General for England and Wales, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Lord Chief Justice of England.

Background and education

Coleridge was the eldest son of John Taylor Coleridge, and the great-nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1846.

Coleridge was a member of the Canterbury Association from 24 June 1851.

Legal career

Coleridge established a successful legal practice on the western circuit. From 1853 to 1854 he held the post of secretary to the Royal Commission on the City of London. In 1865 he was elected to the House of Commons for Exeter for the Liberal Party. He made a favourable impression on the leaders of his party and when the Liberals came to office in 1868 under William Ewart Gladstone, Coleridge was appointed Solicitor-General. In 1871 he was promoted to Attorney-General, a post he held until 1873. In 1871 he was also involved in the high-publicity Tichborne Case.

In November 1873 Coleridge succeeded Sir William Bovill as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and in January the following year was raised to the peerage as Baron Coleridge, of Ottery St Mary in the County of Devon. In 1880 he was made Lord Chief Justice of England on the death of Sir Alexander Cockburn. Despite his health failing towards the end of his life he remained in this office until his death.

Family

Lord Coleridge married Jane Fortescue Seymour, daughter of the Reverend George Seymour of Freshwater, Isle of Wight, herself an accomplished artist who notably painted John Henry Newman. They had three sons and a daughter. His first wife died in February 1878. He remained a widower until 1885 when married Amy Augusta Jackson Lawford, who survived him. Lord Coleridge died in June 1894, aged 74, and was succeeded by his eldest son Bernard John Seymour, who later became a Judge of the High Court of Justice. His second son Stephen also became a barrister. His daughter Mildred eloped with the lawyer Charles Warren Adams, to whom she was married in 1885. This led to two celebrated libel actions won by Adams while Coleridge was serving as lord chief justice.

Leading cases and judgments

• R v Coney (1882)
• R v Dudley and Stephens (1884)
• Gordon-Cumming v Wilson and Others (1891), the trial arising from the Royal Baccarat Scandal.

References

• ^ A short notice of her by Dean Church of St Paul's was published in The Guardian, and was reprinted in her husband's privately printed collection of poems.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord Coleridge
• Archival material relating to John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge listed at the UK National Archives

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Richard Sommers Gard Viscount Courtenay	Member of Parliament for Exeter 1865–1873 With: Viscount Courtenay 1865–1868 Edgar Alfred Bowring 1868–1873	Succeeded by Edgar Alfred Bowring Arthur Mills
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Richard Baggallay	Solicitor General 1868–1871	Succeeded by Sir George Jessel
Preceded by Sir Robert Collier	Attorney General 1871–1873	Succeeded by Sir Henry James
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir William Bovill	Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1873–1880	Succeeded by (office abolished)
Preceded by Sir Alexander Cockburn	Lord Chief Justice of England 1880–1894	Succeeded by Lord Russell of Killowen
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Coleridge 1874–1894	Succeeded by Bernard John Seymour Coleridge