Robert Samuel Wright

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In The Sketch, 27 May 1896

Sir Robert Samuel Wright (20 January 1839 – 13 August 1904) was a 19th-century

Queen's Bench Division
.

Life and career

Wright was born at the

called to the bar by the Inner Temple in June 1865.[3]

As a young lawyer, Wright made a mark with well-received publications on legal topics including the laws of conspiracy, possession, local government and taxation. His practice as a

Attorney General's devil",[2] and one of the Attorneys General whom he served commented, "Wright has the whole law of England at his fingers' ends".[2] In this, Wright was at first assisted by his own junior, H. H. Asquith, whose legal and political career took off with his appointment by Wright.[1]

Vanity Fair
, 1891

In 1870, Wright was asked by the Colonial Office to draft a criminal code for Jamaica which could be used as a model criminal code for other colonies. Although ultimately not adopted in Jamaica, it was adopted in several other British colonies, and came to be highly regarded.

Holding strong

knighthood that customarily went with the appointment, but later accepted it.[1]

Among Wright's important judgments was that in the case of

Conservative Lord Chancellor controlled judicial appointments.[2]

Wright married in 1891. His wife Mabel Emily, née Chermside, was the daughter of a clergyman. There were two sons of the marriage; one died in infancy and the other, Sir Michael Wright, became a senior diplomat.[1]

Wright died at his country house, Headley Park, Hampshire at the age of 65.[1]

Books

Wright wrote or co-wrote a number of books on legal matters and classic literature, which included:[4]

  • The Genius of
    Chaucer
    : A Prize Essay     (1861) - (reprinted in Paperback, 2009)
  • The Golden Treasury of Ancient Greek poetry (1867)
  • The Law of Criminal Conspiracies and Agreements (1887) (co-author: Hampton Lawrence Carson)
  • An Essay on Possession in the Common law (1888) (co-author: Sir Frederick Pollock)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Glazebrook, P. R.. "Wright, Sir Robert Samuel (1839–1904)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, May 2006, retrieved 21 June 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Death Of Mr. Justice Wright", The Times, 15 May 1904, p. 2
  3. ^ "Wright, Sir Robert Samuel", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2014 retrieved 21 June 2015 (subscription required)
  4. ^ "Robert Samuel Wright", Barnes and Noble, retrieved 24 August 2009]
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