The Right Honourable The Lord Brampton PC, QC |
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Lord Brampton.
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Personal details | |
Born |
Hitchin, Hertfordshire |
14 September 1817
Died | 6 October 1907 Tilney Street, Park Lane, London |
(aged 90)
Nationality | British |
Spouse(s) | (1) Hanna Casey (d. 1886) (2) Jane Louisa Reynolds (d. 1907) |
Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton PC, QC (14 September 1817 – 6 October 1907), known as Sir Henry Hawkins between 1876 and 1899, was an English judge. He served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice between 1876 and 1898.
Born at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, Hawkins was the son of John Hawkins, a solicitor, and Susanna, daughter of Theed Pearse. Through his father he was early familiarized with legal principles. He was educated at Bedford School, and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1843.
Hawkins at once joined the old home circuit, and after enjoying a lucrative practice as a junior, became a barrister in 1858 and a Queen's Counsel in 1859. His name is identified with many of the famous trials of the reign of Queen Victoria. He was engaged in the Simon Bernard case, in that of Roupell v. Waite, and in the Overend-Gurney prosecutions. The two causes célèbres, however, in which Hawkins attained his highest legal distinction were the Tichborne trials and the great will case of Sugden v. Lord St. Leonards, relating to the lost will of Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St Leonards. In both of these he won. He had a lucrative business in references and arbitrations, and acted for the royal commissioners in the purchase of the site for the new law courts. Election petitions also formed another branch of his extensive practice.