Sir James Bacon (11 February 1798 – 1 June 1895) was a British judge and a

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

. Bacon was born at 10 The Polygon,

Somers Town, London Somers Town is an inner-city district in North West London. It has been strongly influenced by the three mainline north London railway termini: Euston (1838), St Pancras (1868) and King's Cross (1852), together with the Midland Railway Some ...

. His father had gone there from Holt,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

, to work as an attorney's clerk in Clerkenwell. Bacon received part of his early education in Holt. He left school at twelve and worked for some years in the same attorney's firm, Rhodes and Cook, as he relates in his unpublished memoirs. On 4 April 1822 he joined

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wa ...

and was called to the bar on 16 May 1827. As an impecunious young barrister he engaged in much literary work, such as translations from the French (including the first translation of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

) and a pseudonymous “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Byron” which breached copyright outrageously. John Murray decided not to sue because copyright in works of doubtful moral character had become precarious following the case of William Lawrence. This work was illustrated by

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other ...

and Bacon knew him and many literary and artistic personalities, including

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764– ...

and

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

. He joined Lincoln's Inn in 1833 and became a bencher on 2 November 1846 soon after becoming a QC. In 1859 he became under-secretary and secretary of causes to the

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

. He became chief judge in bankruptcy under the

Bankruptcy Act 1869 The Bankruptcy Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 71) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 32 established the first statutory regime for preferential debts in bankruptcy, between local rates, taxes, wages and salaries of clerks, ...

, and held this post until the act was repealed in 1883 and jurisdiction over bankruptcy was transferred 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 ...

. He also became a vice-chancellor in 1870 and was knighted and appointed to the Privy Council the following year; the post was abolished by the Court of Judicature Act of 1875 but he retained the title until he retired in 1886 at the age of 88. He had become a celebrated figure for his caustic wit and activity to a great age. An example is that when a decision of his was appealed, the only thing on his notes sent to the higher court was a cartoon of the appellant and the words "This man is a liar."''St. James Gazette'', 6 June 1905. He married Laura Cook, daughter of the attorney he and his father worked for, in 1827. She died in 1859. For many years he rented as a holiday home

Compton Beauchamp Compton Beauchamp is a hamlet and civil parish southeast of Shrivenham in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's popula ...

House in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

(now Oxfordshire). The couple had four sons together, two of whom predeceased the judge, and one daughter. Their granddaughter Arabella Susan Lawrence was one of the first Labour Party female MPs. Sir James Bacon Achievement

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, James 1798 births 1895 deaths Members of Lincoln's Inn Chancery Division judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Somers Town, London People from Vale of White Horse (district) Knights Bachelor