Sir Charles Hall (1814–1883) was an English barrister and judge, who became Vice-Chancellor of England. Charles Hall ILN 1873

Life

The fourth son of John Hall of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and Mary, daughter of John Dobson of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, he was born on 14 April 1814. His father, after financial losses by a bank failure, articled him to a solicitor in Manchester. In 1835 he entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and read for the bar successively with William Taprell the

special pleader A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case. History Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...

, James Russell of the chancery bar, and

Lewis Duval Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

the conveyancer. At the end of his year as a pupil he became Duval's principal assistant. In time Hall succeeded to the bulk of Duval's practice, and through his wife inherited much of his fortune; and lived for the rest of his life in Duval's house at 8 Bayswater Hill (now 150 Baywater Road, and not as sometimes supposed 8 Orme Square). During the next twenty years he became the recognised leader of the junior chancery bar, and the first authority of his day on

real property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

. Having been

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in Michaelmas term 1838, he built up a large court practice, and his pupils were prominent in the following generation of equity lawyers. Hall's best known cases were the Bridgewater peerage case in the House of Lords in 1853, the Shrewsbury peerage case, and ''Allgood v. Blake'' in the exchequer chamber in 1872. He drew up several bills for Lord Westbury, including his Registration of Titles Act, and assisted Lord Selborne in drafting the

Judicature Act 1873 The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66) (sometimes known as the Judicature Act 1873) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1873. It reorganised the English court system to establish the High Court and ...

. Hall twice refused to

take silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Que ...

. In 1862 he became under-conveyancer and in 1864 conveyancer to the court of chancery, and in 1872 a bencher of his inn. He was raised to the bench in succession to Vice-chancellor John Wickens in November 1873 and knighted. He was transferred to the

Chancery Division 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 (England ...

of the High Court upon the creation of the latter in 1875. While walking home from his court, Hall was attacked by a stroke of paralysis, in June 1882. He resigned his judgeship before the ensuing Michaelmas sittings, and died on 12 December 1883. He never played any part in politics.

Family

In 1837 Hall married Sarah, daughter of Francis Duval of Exeter and Lewis Duval's niece. He had four sons, two of whom survived him, the younger being Charles Hall the lawyer and politician, and four daughters.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Charles 1814 births 1883 deaths English barristers 19th-century English judges Lawyers from Manchester Knights Bachelor Chancery Division judges Members of the Middle Temple Vice chancellors (Court of Chancery)