John Dawson Mayne (1828–1917) was a British lawyer and legal expert who served as acting Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency. He is remembered as the author of ''Mayne's Hindu Law'' regarded as the most authoritative book on the

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the official criminal code of the Republic of India, inherited from British India after independence. It remained in force until it was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in December 2023 ...

. His married life was marred by a scandal, which prevented him from gaining a

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

Family

Born on 31 December 1828, to John Mayne (1793–1828), a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

lawyer who died before John Dawson was born. His mother, Anna (Graves) Johnson (1798–1864), had first married Edward Johnson (died 1818) J.P., o
Ballymacash House

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. Mayne's middle name was for his great-grandfather's cousin and benefactor,

Thomas Dawson, 1st Viscount Cremorne Thomas Dawson, 1st Viscount Cremorne was an Irish landowner and politician from County Monaghan. Biography He was born on 25 February 1725, the first surviving son of Richard Dawson (died 1766), Richard Dawson of Dawson Grove, by his wife Elizab ...

. He came from a well-known family and was a grandson of Judge

Edward Mayne The Hon. Edward Mayne (August 1756 – 7 May 1829) was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Ireland (1805–1816) and afterwards Judge of The Court of the King's Bench (1816–1818). Birth Edward Mayne was baptised on 30 August 1756. He was t ...

and Dean

Richard Graves Richard Graves (4 May 1715 – 23 November 1804) was an English cleric, poet, and novelist. He is remembered especially for his picaresque novel ''The Spiritual Quixote'' (1773). Early life Graves was born at Mickleton Manor, Mickleton, Glouce ...

. He was a nephew of Sir

Richard Mayne Sir Richard Mayne KCB (27 November 1796 – 26 December 1868) was a barrister and the joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the head of the London Metropolitan Police (1829–1868). With an incumbency of 39 years, he rem ...

and a first cousin of Admiral

Richard Charles Mayne Rear-Admiral Richard Charles Mayne (7 July 1835 – 29 May 1892) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who in later life became a Conservative politician. Richard Mayne was the son of Sir Richard Mayne KCB (the first joint commissioner of the ...

, Chief Justice Sir

William Collis Meredith Sir William Collis Meredith, (23 May 1812 – 26 February 1894) was Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec, Superior Court for the Province of Quebec from 1866 to 1884. In 1844, he was offered but refused the positions of Solicitor Genera ...

Edmund Allen Meredith Edmund Allen Meredith (7 October 1817 – 2 January 1899) was an Irish lawyer whose career was in public service in Canada. He was Under Secretary of State for Canada; a prison reformer, writer, president of the Literary and Historical Societ ...

, Sir

Richard Graves MacDonnell Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell (; 3 September 1814 – 5 February 1881) was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor. His posts as governor included Governor of the British Settlements in West Africa, Governor of Saint Vincent, Gov ...

, Major-General Arthur Robert MacDonnell and

Francis Brinkley Francis Brinkley (30 December 1841 – 12 October 1912) was an Anglo-Irish newspaper owner, editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period Japan for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architect ...

. His sister married a son of

Abraham Colles Abraham Colles (23 July 1773 – 16 November 1843) was an Irish surgeon and physician who served as Professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the P ...

, and through her, he was the uncle of Ladies Ashbourne and Bewley.

Career

Mayne had his initial education in

and graduated in law from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. He was called to the English bar in 1854, but practised in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1854 to 1856 before moving to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Mayne served as the Professor of law, logic and moral philosophy at the

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

from 1857 throughout the 1860s. He also served as Assistant Legal Secretary to the Madras government from 1860 to 1872 and as a Clerk of the Crown during the 1860s. He served as Advocate-General of Madras from 1862 to 1872. He left

in a cloud of scandal, running away from his wife with the wife of another man, Annie Craigie-Halkett. In

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, despite the scandal, Mayne served as a Professor of Common Law at the Inns of Court from 1879 to 1883. In 1880, he unsuccessfully contested for the Parliamentary seat at Falmouth. He was an enthusiastic family historian, producing an impressively long 'pedigree' of the Maynes from 1900 back through some thirty generations to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, but beyond the 17th century, like so many family histories of the time, it was riddled with errors of assumption. At

, 1859, he married his first wife, Helen Sarah Hamilton (born 1841), daughter of Colonel Robert Hamilton of the Madras Staff Corps. She divorced Mayne in 1872 after he ran off with his soon-to-be second wife, Annie Craigie-Halkett (1833–1917). Annie's first husband's name is unknown, but she was the daughter of Charles Craigie-Halkett-Inglis of Hallhill,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

and Cramond House, near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, by his wife Susan, the youngest daughter of Sir John Marjoribanks of Lees (1763–1833), 1st Bt., M.P.,

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

. Annie and 'JD' (as he was known) divorced their respective spouses so they could marry in May 1873. Annie was reputed to be very beautiful despite her face being marred by a 'Port wine mark' (

birth mark A birthmark is a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth—usually in the first month. Birthmarks can occur anywhere on the skin. They are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocy ...

), which led her to favouring veils in later life. In 1917, he and Annie died within six weeks of one another, at their hom
'Goodrest'
also known as Shinfield Park,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. The gardens were so extensive at Goodrest that they required twenty gardeners to maintain its upkeep. Mayne left no children by either marriage, but took great joy in being both a financial and legal help to many of his relatives.

References

* * Sir T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty, Raja Dharma Pravina, C.I.E. Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Mysore and the Offg. Dewan of Mysore. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayne, John Dawson 1828 births 1917 deaths Lawyers from Dublin (city) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish Anglicans British barristers Administrators in British India Advocates general for Tamil Nadu Members of the Madras Legislative Council Academic staff of Presidency College, Chennai