George William Wilshere Bramwell
Lord George William Wilshere Bramwell (1808-c1891)
1892 Obituary [1]
GEORGE WILLIAM WILSHERE BEAMWELL, born on the 12th of June, 1808, was the eldest son of Mr. George Bramwell, a partner in the banking firm of Dorrien and Co., whose house of business was at Finch Lane, in the City of London. He was educated at Dr. May’s school at Enfield, and before leaving had attained the distinction of being head boy. While at school, on reaching the age of thirteen years, his father sent t.0 him at his request a watch, and with it a letter containing the following words : “ I wish you many years of health and happiness to wear the same. I hope you will carefully mark the ebb of Time, and make the best use of it, SO that you may turn out an honest and clever man.” It could be wished that the hopes of all fathers might be as completely realized. At the age of sixteen he began to work in his father’s bank, and there acquired a knowledge of business which proved of great service to him in after years, both at the bar and on the bench. His relatives and friends had formed a high opinion of his powers, he himself was of an ardent temperament, and, as Yanity Fair said of him, had a soul above dealing with other people’s money, so he resolved upon the bar for a career, and in November, 18S0, was admitted as a student at Lincoln’s Inn, and became a pupil in the chambers of Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, then a junior barrister in large practice. His master soon discovered Bramwell’s abilities, and when pressed by clients for opinions and pleadings to which he was too busy to attend, would say, 6‘ Ask Mr. Bramwell to look at the papers.”
On leaving Mr. Kelly’s chambers, he practised for some years as a special pleader ; but, in spite of his acknowledged mastery over that now recondite art, with no great success. In May, 1838, he was called to the bar, and shortly afterwards joined the Home Circuit. In Court, his merits were soon appreciated by the attorneys and the judges, and in 1850 his position was such that he was appointed a member of the Commission to inquire into the procedure of the Courts of Common Law. In 1851, he applied for and obtained the honour of a silk gown, and was made a Bencher of the Inner Temple, to which society he had been admitted in 1836. His practice now increased rapidly. Before his elevation to the Bench in 1856, he had acquired the undisputed lead at the Guildhall, where the most important mercantile cases were tried. The best firms of attorneys in the City of London were among his clients, and were, and continued to be after his elevation to the Bench, his personal friends. In Court he was equally at home, whether dealing with fact or law. In cases which required a mixed appeal to the judgment and the feelings, he was singularly successful. He was, and remained all his life, a ready, powerful, and impressive speaker. The special jurymen in the City of London got to know him, and respected his great knowledge of the usages of business. His name will be found in nearly all the important mercantile cases from 1852 to 1856. He had acquired the esteem and respect of the Judges, and was most cordially welcomed by them when in January, 1856, at the age of forty-seven years, he was appointed by Lord Cranworth to a judgeship in the Court of Exchequer. Baron Bramwell had to succeed Baron Parke, a judge of great ability, with a high reputation for profound learning, who had for twenty-six years exercised great influence over the Courts of Westminster Hall. In announcing to Mr. Bramwell the resignation of Baron Parke, Lord Cranworth wrote, “I am sure that I cannot be doing wrong in proposing to you to be his successor.” Baron Parke wrote to him, “I rejoice much to hear from the Chancellor that you are to supply my place in the Exchequer.”
As Baron Bramwell, he became famous throughout the land, and continued to administer the law in the High Courts of Justice until 1881, and in the House of Lords until the end of the year 1891, that is, until within a few months of his death. As a judge, he excelled. He knew and administered the law, but always with a strong and earnest resolution to do right. He possessed a wide grasp of legal principles, and applied them with unerring instinct to the facts before him. With juries he was eminently successful. He enjoyed in a marked degree the power of clear exposition, and placed before a jury in the plainest light the matters for its determination. He had held a brief in only one criminal case; but no judge tried prisoners in a more masterly manner. As a rule, prisoners are undefended, and few of them can, without some assistance and kindness from the judge, do justice to the story which they wish to tell. A prisoner before Baron Bramwell always had a fair and full chance, but if guilty, rarely escaped. His voice and manner were singularly impressive, and when passing sentence, he rarely failed to add a few words of kindly advice and exhortation, which were often not without effect upon those to whom they were addressed. In Court he was the central figure, he held the reins and guided the case. However eminent the counsel who appeared before him, the jury looked to him for guidance and direction. With these qualities, firm, self-reliant, and with a keen insight into human nature, he was, as his re- viewers said, “ a great judge.” By the bar Baron Bramwell was beloved. The youngest junior was as sure of a hearing from him as the most renowned advocate. He made a point of attending the dinners given by the Home Circuit to a member on his elevation to the Bench, and the mention of his name was always the signal for a burst of enthusiastic cheering. This good feeling culminated in the unique dis- tinction of a dinner given to him by the Bar of England upon his retirement in 1881, an honour prized by him as greatly as any which fell to his lot.
In 1876 he had been appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. Shortly after his retirement, he received from the Prime Minister of the day, the offer of a peerage, an honour which the Prime Minister stated to him would be “recognized by the world as no more than a just tribute to your long service, and the great eminence attained through your abilities and learning.” In the spring of 1882, he took his seat in the House of Lords, and commenced in that assembly a career marked by the same success as had attended him at the bar and upon the bench. His speeches enlivened the atmosphere of the House of Lords, they mere widely read, and he soon became both poplar and a power in the House, He kept a vigilant eye upon proposed legislation, and often with benefit to the public. He contributed to The Times many vigorous and pointed letters, which never failed in originality and interest, and his pamphlet “Drink,” achieved a phenomenal success. Other admirable contributions were his letter upon “ Diminished Production,” and his pamphlets “Laissez Faire,” and in reply to Nr. Henry George’s Progress and Poverty.” In private life he ’was greatly liked and esteemed. His conversation was full of charm and interest. He knew almost every one worth knowing, and could talk on all the topics of the day. He had acquired without extraneous assistance German and Italian, in addition to French taught in his young days, so as to be able to speak all three languages with fluency. Armed with that power he visited every capital in Europe, and most of them several times. He also visited America, Africa (Egypt), and even the great fair at Nijni-Kovgorod. His tastes and habits were of the simplest; pomp and show he much disliked. He was a great lover of music and of billiards, but would put down his cue in the middle of a break to listen to the sorrows of a poor neighbour. Lord Bramwell made his own way in life. The public orator, on the occasion when the University of Dublin conferred on him the degree of LL.D., truly said : “ Omnia sua sibi ipsi debet.” His well-chosen motto was “Diligenter.” Perhaps his most striking characteristics were the remarkable \rigour and robust- ness of his intellect, the originality of his views, the sturdy dependence of his opinions, the quickness of his appreciation, and the sense of power with which he impressed his audience. There was never anything of the old man about him. Until a few months before his death he bid fair to rival his mother, who lived to see ninety-six years.
In 1830 he married Jane, daughter of Bruno Silva, who shared and lightened his early privations; but unhappily did not live to witness his success, dying in 1836. A few years after his elevation to the bench, he married again, and enjoyed many years of domestic happiness, largely spent at his country house near Edenbridge. Lord Bramwell was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in I884 was elected an Honorary Member of this Institution. He was a member of the Athenmm, of Brooks’, and of various other clubs, but preferred a quiet read or a chat with a friend at his own house to the club drawing room. While a Queen’s Counsel, he was elected a member of the Political Economy Club, and for many years constantly attended its meetings, joining not infrequently in the after-dinner discussions and always listened to with great interest. Mention must be made of the public services rendered by Lord Bramwell as a member of various Royal Commissions. As a member of the Common Law Procedure Commission, appointed in 1850, he took a prominent part in recommending the beneficial alterations effected by the Acts of 1852 and 1654. In 1853, he was appointed a member of the Commission to inquire into the unlimited liability of partners. When the objection was raised that persons might deal with a company, supposing its liability to be unlimited, he replied that the word “Limited ” might be added to the name of the company, a suggestion which became part of our company law. In 1836, he served as a member of the Neutrality Laws ” Commission, in 1867 he was placed upon the “ Judicature Commission,” and in 1868 upon the “Naturalization Commission.” He was also chairman of the Commission on the “Discharge of Metropolitan Sewage.” All those who really knew Lord Bramwell will agree that he was a very remarkable man, and possessed a rare combination of qualities-qualities such that to whatever profession or occupation he had devoted himself, in the end he would have attained the highest success.