Sir John Edge (28 July 1841 – 30 July 1926) was Chief Justice in the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

, India, during the

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era. A member of the

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, of which he acted for some time as treasurer, he was also appointed a judicial member of the

Council of India The Council of India (1858 – 1935) was an advisory body to the Secretary of State for India, established in 1858 by the Government of India Act 1858. It was based in London and initially consisted of 15 members. The Council of India was dissolve ...

and a member of the Privy Council.

Early life

John Edge was the only child of Benjamin Booker Edge and his wife, Esther Anne. He was born on 28 July 1841 in

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(now

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

). His family claimed a

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origin and had been in Ireland since the

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. Edge was privately educated prior to attending

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

between 1858 and 1861. He was awarded both

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and LL.B. degrees from that institution and was called to the

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in 1864 as a member of the

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. Two years later, he was admitted to the English bar by the Middle Temple and proceeded to practise in the north of that country.

Career

In 1886, Edge became a

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, was made a

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and appointed Chief Justice of the high court of the

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. He replaced William Comer Petheram in that role and was based in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. Holding office until 1898, Edge proved to be a capable leader of a court that included several other very talented judges. He also demonstrated considerable administrative skills, such as arranging for the codification of the court's rules and, between 1887 and 1893, serving as the first

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Allahabad The University of Allahabad is a Central university (India), Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). ...

. He also headed the famine relief committee set up in response to the 1896 famine in India. In January 1899, after his recent retirement from the Chief Justice role, Edge became a judicial member of the Council of India and retained that role until 1908. It was at this time that he was also elected to the bench of the Middle Temple, of which he served as treasurer in 1919. In 1902, he also served on a

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that investigated the

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and in 1905 was involved in an inquiry that ultimately had a part in the creation of the Court of Criminal Appeal. Edge became a privy counsellor in January 1909 and in that role he heard many legal appeals from India between 1916 and May 1926, when he retired completely, just short of his 85th birthday.

Family

Edge married Laura Loughborough, the daughter of a solicitor from

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in England, in September 1867. The couple had one son and four daughters.

Death

John Edge died suddenly on 30 July 1926 at his house, 123 Oakwood Court in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London.

Arms

References

Citations Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edge, John 1841 births 1926 deaths Members of the Council of India Knights Bachelor Chief justices Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Middle Temple Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Lawyers from County Laois Members of the King's Inns 19th-century King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Academic staff of the University of Allahabad Allahabad High Court Indian academic administrators Chief justices of the Allahabad High Court British India judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council