The Right Honourable Sir Alexander Cockburn Bt |
|
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1st Lord Chief Justice of England | |
In office 1 November 1875 – 28 November 1880 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | None Chief Justice, Queen's Bench |
Succeeded by | The Lord Coleridge |
Chief Justice, Queen's Bench | |
In office 24 June 1859 – 1 November 1875 |
|
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | The Lord Campbell |
Succeeded by | None Lord Chief Justice of England |
Personal details | |
Born |
Alcina, Transylvania Kingdom of Hungary |
24 December 1802
Died | 28 November 1880 40 Hertford Street, Mayfair, London United Kingdom |
(aged 77)
Resting place |
Kensal Green Cemetery Brent, Greater London United Kingdom |
Nationality | British |
Spouse(s) | Louisa Ann Elizabeth Dalley Godfrey (not married) |
Children | Louisa C. Cockburn Alexander E. Cockburn |
Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
Occupation | Barrister, judge |
Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet (24 September 1802 – 28 November 1880) was a Scottish jurist and politician who served as the Lord Chief Justice for 21 years. A notorious womaniser and socialite, he heard some of the leading causes célèbres of the nineteenth century.
In 1847 he decided to stand for parliament, and was elected unopposed as Liberal Member of Parliament for Southampton. His speech in the House of Commons on behalf of the government in the Don Pacifico dispute with Greece commended him to Lord John Russell, who appointed him Solicitor-General in 1850 and Attorney General in 1851, a post which he held till the resignation of the ministry in February 1852.
Cockburn was born in Alţâna, in what is now Romania and was then part of Habsburg Monarchy, to Alexander Cockburn and his wife Yolande, daughter of the Vicomte de Vignier. His father served as British envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Württemberg and the Colombia District (now Colombia) and was the fourth son of Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet (born c.1729, died July 1804), his three older uncles having died without heirs.