Edward Marshall Hall

Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC (16 September 1858 – 24 February 1927) was an English barrister who had a formidable reputation as an orator. He successfully defended many people accused of notorious murders and became known as "The Great Defender".

Marshall Hall practised as a barrister in the late Victorian era and in the Edwardian era, when the public took a great interest in the sensational court cases of the day. Big criminal and civil trials were widely reported on by the popular press on a daily basis. As a consequence, he and other successful barristers of the day became very famous. The widespread belief that he was a much better orator than lawyer may explain his failure to achieve elevation to the High Court, which was a source of great disappointment to him.

Born in Brighton the son of eminent physician Alfred Hall, Marshall Hall was educated at Rugby School and St John's College, Cambridge. Unusually, he left Cambridge after his fourth term to embark on what would now be regarded as a gap year in Paris and Australia, before returning to complete his law degree. In 1882 he married Ethel Moon. The marriage was unhappy; the couple were never compatible and were frequently separated; they were legally separated in 1889. The next year Ethel became pregnant by a lover and died of a botched abortion; a seamy, very public lawsuit followed in which the lover, the abortionist, and several others were indicted for Ethel's murder. Marshall Hall's guilt over his part in Ethel's fate would have a profound effect on his career: he would become famous for the impassioned nature of his defences of women maltreated by men. He subsequently married Henriette "Hetty" Kroeger, with whom he had one daughter, Elna.

In November 1907 Marshall Hall was briefed in a case which contributed significantly towards his being painted with such titles as "The Great Defender". On 12 September 1907, Bertram Shaw returned home during the evening to find his room locked. He borrowed a key from a neighbour, but upon entering was greeted with the horrific sight of his fiancee Emily Dimmock (known as Phyllis) lying naked on the bed, throat cut from ear to ear. It was a savage but skilful attack on her from the nature of the wound. Nothing much had been taken from the flat, and the motive was a mystery; the case quickly became a sensation.

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