Sir Robert Romer (23 December 1840 – 19 March 1918) was a British judge. He was a High Court judge (1890–1899), and a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

(1899–1906) when he was known as Lord Justice Romer.

Biography

Romer was born in Kilburn,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. He attended

St John's School, Leatherhead St John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey is a fully co-educational private school for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school offers day, weekly and flexible boarding for approximately 800 pupils. St John's was founded in 1851 to educate the sons of ...

(in Surrey) and excelled at mathematics at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

where he was

Senior Wrangler The Senior Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain". Specifically, it is the person who achiev ...

in 1863 (the first from Trinity Hall) and was joint winner of

Smith's Prize Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the names ...

in that year. Following the premature late 1864 death of

George Boole George Boole ( ; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in Ireland. H ...

, the first professor of maths at Queen's College, Cork, Romer beat out Robert Ball for the vacant position, however he only stayed in Cork from 1865 to 1866. He became QC in 1881, and a bencher of

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

in 1884. The same year he unsuccessfully stood as the Liberal candidate in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. In 1890 he was appointed High Court judge and assigned 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 ...

, receiving the customary

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 ...

. He served as such until 1899, when he was appointed a

, in succession to

Chitty The Chitty, also known as the Chetty or Chetti Melaka, are an ethnic group whose members are of primarily Tamil descent, found mainly and initially in Melaka, Malaysia, where they settled around the 16th century, and in Singapore where they mi ...

. He resigned in 1906. It was said that his resignation had been caused by the conduct of his fellow Lord Justice Sir Roland Vaughan Williams. Romer was sworn a Privy Councillor in 1899, and elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in the same year. He was appointed

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

(GCB) in the New Year Honours list 1 January 1901, and was invested by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

in February the same year. He was a member of the Royal Commission on South African Hospitals in 1901, during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. He was a member of the Royal Commission on University Education in London in 1909.

Family

In 1864 he married his first cousin Betty Lemon, daughter of his aunt Helen (Nelly) Romer and

Mark Lemon Mark Lemon (30 November 1809, in London – 23 May 1870, in Crawley) was the founding editor of both ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and ''The Field (magazine), The Field''. He was also a writer of Play (theatre), plays and verses. Biography ...

, editor of '' Punch''. Their sons were

Mark Romer, Baron Romer Mark Lemon Romer, Baron Romer, PC (9 August 1866 – 19 August 1944) was a British barrister and judge. Biography Romer was born in Crawley, Sussex, the second son of Sir Robert Romer, later a Lord Justice of Appeal, and Betty, née Le ...

and Sir Cecil Romer. His grandson Sir Charles Robert Romer was also Lord Justice of Appeal. Their daughter Helen Mary married future

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

Frederic Maugham.

Arms

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romer, Robert 1840 births 1918 deaths Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Lord justices of appeal Chancery Division judges Senior Wranglers Members of Lincoln's Inn Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead English King's Counsel