The grave of William Bodkin, Highgate Cemetery, London

Sir William Henry Bodkin (5 August 1791 – 26 March 1874) was a British barrister and

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politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1841 to 1847, before becoming a judge.

Early life

Bodkin was the son of Peter Bodkin from

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and his wife Sarah. His father's family had long connections with

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. He was educated at the Islington Academy and

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 1826 at

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Career

Bodkin initially practised on the Home Circuit, taking mostly criminal cases at the Middlesex, Westminster and Kent Sessions, and in the Central Criminal Court in the

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. was appointed as a

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of Dover in 1834. He was elected at the 1841 general election as a

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(MP) for the borough of Rochester in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, winning the seat by a margin of only two votes over the Liberal Party candidate Viscount Melgund. Bodkin was defeated at the 1847 general election as a result of his support for the

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measures introduced by Sir Robert Peel. He did not stand at the 1852 general election, but unsuccessfully contested the borough at a by-election in February 1856. He was

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ed in 1867. He later became a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(J.P) in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex, and judge of the Court of Sessions in Middlesex. He was an active member of the Society of Arts, becoming its vice-president. He was president of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution and he wrote several pamphlets on the English Poor Laws. Bodkin died aged 82 on 26 March 1874, after a long and painful illness. He was buried in the family grave at

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Personal life

Bodkin lived at West Hill in Highgate, North London. He married twice, first in 1812 to Sara Sophia Poland, who died in 1848, and then in 1865 to Sarah Constance Miles, the daughter of Joseph Johnson Miles, a J.P from Highgate. He had one son and one daughter. His son, William Henry Bodkin, succeeded him in several of his judging roles, and was the father of Sir Archibald Bodkin. He is buried with his first wife.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodkin, William Henry 1874 deaths 1791 births Burials at Highgate Cemetery Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1841–1847 Knights Bachelor Members of Gray's Inn 19th-century English judges People from Highgate Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex