Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth, PC (18 December 1790 – 26 July 1868) was a British lawyer and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician. He twice served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Background and education

Born at Cranworth, Norfolk, he was the elder son of the Reverend Edmund Rolfe and Jemima Alexander, James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon's niece and a granddaughter of physician Messenger Monsey. Rolfe was related to Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, he was educated at Bury St Edmunds, Winchester,

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, Downing College, Cambridge (of which he was elected fellow) and was called to the bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1816.

Legal and political career

Cranworth represented Penryn and Falmouth in Parliament from 1832 until he was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer in 1839. In 1850 he was appointed a Vice-Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Baron Cranworth, of Cranworth in the County of Norfolk. In 1852 Lord Cranworth became

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

in Lord Aberdeen's

coalition ministry A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. He continued to hold the chancellorship also in the administration of

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

until the latter's resignation in 1858. Cranworth was not reappointed when Palmerston returned to office in 1859, but on the retirement of Lord Westbury in 1865 he accepted the office for a second time, and held it till the fall of the Russell administration in 1866.

Personal life

In 1845, Cranworth married Laura Carr (1807–1868), daughter of Thomas William Carr (born 1770). The couple had no children. Lord Cranworth died at his seat, Holwood House, on 26 July 1868, aged 77, after a short illness related to the heat. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death.

Cases

*'' Fouldes v. Willoughby'' (1841) *'' Aberdeen Rly Co v Blaikie Bros'' (1854) *'' Scott v Avery'' (1855) *'' Jones v Lock'' (1865) *''

Rylands v. Fletcher ''Rylands v Fletcher'' (1868) LR 3 HL 330 is a leading decision by the Judicial functions of the House of Lords, House of Lords which established a new area of English tort law. It established the rule that one's non-natural use of their land, w ...

'' judgment given 9 days before his death.

Arms

References

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Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cranworth, Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Lord chancellors of Great Britain Rolfe, Robert Monsey Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Rolfe, Robert Monsey Rolfe, Robert Monsey Rolfe, Robert Monsey UK MPs who were granted peerages 1790 births 1868 deaths Barons of the Exchequer Solicitors General for England and Wales People from Breckland District Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria