Sir Arthur Charles (23 January 1839 – 20 November 1921) was a British lawyer and High Court judge. A distinguished ecclesiastical lawyer, Charles is today best remembered for presiding over the first trial of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

for

gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...

Early life and career

Charles was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

and

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, where he read Mathematics. He was called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1862. He began his career as a law reporter, reporting on the Court of Exchequer. His career at the bar was associated with ecclesiastical cases. As a junior, he appeared in many cases concerning ritualist controversies. In 1868, he appeared as a junior for Mr Charles, who was being tried in the Arches Court with

Alexander Mackonochie Alexander Heriot Mackonochie (11 August 1825 – 15 December 1887) was a Church of England mission priest known as "the martyr of St Alban's" on account of his prosecution and forced resignation for ritualist practices. Early life Mackonochi ...

for ritual practices, and remained involved with subsequent litigation. In 1874, he defended Mackonochie on new charges. Mackonochie subsequently refused to obey the Arches Court made against him, leading to his suspension for three years. Charles applied to the Queen's Bench Division for a writ of prohibition against the Arches Court on the grounds the latter had exceeded its authority: the application was denied by Cockburn CJ and Mellor J, against the dissent of Lush J. Charles became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1877, and unsuccessfully contested the

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

constituency as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in 1880. He was Recorder of Bath between 1878–87,

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of Southwell Diocese between 1884–87, Commissary of Westminster between 1884–87.

Judicial career

He was appointed a

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

in 1887 and assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. In April 1895,

was tried for sodomy and gross indecency for the first time before him. H. Montgomery Hyde described Charles' summing-up as "a fine example of judicial impartiality", although others were more critical. In the end, the jury was unable to agree, and Wilde was tried again and convicted the following month before Mr Justice Wills. He resigned in 1897 for health reasons and was sworn of the Privy Council, but did not sit on the Judicial Committee. In 1899 he became

Dean of the Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary trib ...

, Master of the Faculties, and Auditor of the

Chancery Court of York The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England. It receives appeals from consistory courts of dioceses within the province. The presiding officer, the Official Principal and Auditor, ha ...

, succeeding to Lord Penzance, in front of whom Charles had often appeared at the bar. After the ritualist controversies of previous decades, Charles presided over the ecclesiastical courts during a period of relative quiet. He retired in 1903.

Family

Charles married Rachel Christian, daughter of T. D. Newton, in 1866; they had three sons and a daughter. His son Sir Ernest Bruce Charles also became a High Court judge.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Arthur Knights Bachelor Queen's Bench Division judges English King's Counsel People educated at University College School Alumni of University College London English barristers Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 1839 births 1921 deaths