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Sir Edward Fry, (4 November 1827 – 19 October 1918) was an English Lord Justice of Appeal (1883–1892) and an arbitrator on the Permanent Court of Arbitration.


Biography

Joseph Fry (1795–1879) and Mary Ann Swaine were his parents. He was a Quaker from a prominent
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family which founded and owned the chocolate firm J. S. Fry & Sons. His grandfather was Joseph Storrs Fry (1767–1835) and his brothers included a second Joseph Storrs Fry (1826–1913) who ran the firm and Lewis Fry (1832–1921) who was a politician. He was called to the bar in 1854, took
silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
in 1869 and became a judge in Chancery in 1877, receiving the customary knighthood. He was raised to the Court of Appeal in 1883, and was sworn of the Privy Council. He retired in 1892. Retirement from the court did not mean retirement from legal work. He sat on some cases in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In 1897 he accepted an offer to preside over the royal commission on the Irish Land Acts. He also acted as an arbitrator in the Welsh coal strike (1898), the Grimsby fishery dispute (1901) and between the London and North Western Railway Company and its employees (1906, 1907). Fry was appointed GCMG and GCB in 1907.


International legal and arbitration career

He was also involved in international law. In 1902 he acted as one of five arbitrators at
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in the Pious Fund of the Californias dispute between the United States and Mexico, the first dispute between states arbitrated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. In 1904 he was the British legal assessor on the commission to investigate the Dogger Bank incident where the Russian navy accidentally attacked a British herring fleet in the North Sea. He was involved in the second Hague Conference (1907). In 1908/1909 he was an arbitrator between France and Germany over a case where France had seized deserters (including some German citizens) from German diplomatic protection.


Zoological and botanical work

Besides law he was on the council of
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
and interested in Zoology (he was elected to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1883). He wrote two books on bryophytes, ''British Mosses'' (1892) and, with his daughter Agnes, ''The Liverworts: British and Foreign'' (1911).


Suppression of opium

In his preface to the 1884 report to the Houses of Parliament titled ''The Indo-Chinese opium trade considered in relation to its history, morality, and expediency, and its influence on Christian missions'', Fry wrote:
"We English, by the policy we have pursued, are morally responsible for every acre of land in China which is withdrawn from the cultivation of grain and devoted to that of the poppy; so that the fact of the growth of the drug piumin China ought only to increase our sense of responsibility".


Judgments

Judgments of Fry include: *'' Foakes v Beer'' 884UKHL 1, 881-85All ER Rep 106, (1884) 9 App Cas 605; 54 LJQB 130; 51 LT 833; 33 WR 233 - (Fry sitting in the Court of Appeal) - a leading case from the House of Lords on the legal concept of
consideration Consideration is a concept of English law, English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. It is commonly referred to a ...
. *'' Smith v Land and House Property Corp'' (1884) LR 28 Ch D 7 - English contract law case, concerning
misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant'' 931Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...
and holding that a statement of opinion can represent that one knows certain facts, and can amount to misrepresentation. *'' Isle of Wight Rly Co v Tahourdin (1884) LR 25 Ch D 320 - a
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case on removing directors under the Companies Clauses Act 1845; Fry concurring with Cotton LJ and Lindley LJ *'' Edgington v Fitzmaurice'' (1885) 29 Ch D 459 - contract law case, concerning
misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant'' 931Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...
*'' Falcke v Scottish Imperial Insurance Co'' (1886) 34 Ch 234 - an English unjust enrichment law case, also concerning English contract law, and setting out some fundamental principles of construction of obligations, as viewed to exist by the late 19th-century English judiciary; Fry concurring with Bowen LJ. *'' In the Arbitration between Secretary of State for Home Department and Fletcher'' (1887) - upholding a Queens bench decision supporting the authority of the Inspector of Mines to require the use of safety lamps; Bowen LJ dissenting. *'' Mogul Steamship Co Ltd v McGregor, Gow & Co'' 892AC 25, (1889) 23 QBD 598, (1888) LR 21 QBD 544 - (Fry sitting in the Court of Appeal) - an
English tort law English tort law concerns the compensation for harm to people's rights to health and safety, a clean environment, property, their economic interests, or their reputations. A "tort" is a wrong in civil law, rather than English criminal law, crimi ...
case concerning the economic tort of conspiracy to injure. A product of its time, the courts adhered to a '' laissez faire'' doctrine allowing firms to form a cartel. *'' British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique'' 893AC 602 (Fry sitting in the Court of Appeal) - the House of Lords overturned Fry's Court of Appeal decision and by so doing established the ''Mozambique rule'', a
common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
rule in private international law that renders actions relating to title in foreign land, the right to possession of foreign land, and trespass to foreign land non- justiciable in common law jurisdictions.


Family

Edward Fry married in 1859 Mariabella Hodgkin (1833–1930), daughter of John Hodgkin, granddaughter of Luke Howard, and sister of the historian, Thomas Hodgkin: and they were the parents of seven daughters, one dying young, and two sons. They lived in
Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...
at 5 The Grove, a house later owned by the singer George Michael. * Edward Portsmouth Fry (1860-1928) * Mariabella Fry (1861-1920) * Joan Mary Fry (1862–1955) Quaker social reformer *Elizabeth Alice Fry (1864-1868) * Roger Eliot Fry (1866–1934) – Artist, member of the Bloomsbury Group * Agnes Fry (1869–1957) – co-writer with her father on several scientific treatises and later wrote a biography of him; and her twin sister Isabel Fry (1869-1958), educator * (Sara) Margery Fry (1874–1958) – penal reformer, principal of Somerville College (1926–1931), founder of the Howard League * (Anna) Ruth Fry (1878–1962) – pacifist and Quaker activist.


Notes


References


A Social and Biographical History of British and Irish Field-Bryologists
by Mark Lawley, 2006. Contains information on Edward Fry's interest in Bryology.
AIM25: Institute of Education: Fry, Isabel (1869–1958)
– contains information on her siblings also


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Edward 1827 births 1918 deaths English barristers 19th-century English judges English King's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel Lord justices of appeal Knights Bachelor English Quakers Fellows of the Royal Society
Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
English botanists British bryologists People associated with University College London Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration Fellows of the British Academy Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council British judges of international courts and tribunals Chancery Division judges 19th-century English businesspeople