Edward Marshall Hall

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Marshall Hall in attorney's robe around 1900

Sir Edward Marshall Hall (born September 16, 1858 in Brighton , † February 24, 1927 ) was a famous English criminal defense attorney ( barrister ) at the time.

Life

Marshall Hall was the son of a doctor and attended rugby school and Cambridge University (St. John's College). He paused his law degree for a year in Paris and Australia before graduating from Cambridge. In 1883 he was admitted to the Inner Temple bar ( called to the bar ). During his career he became a Crown Attorney (KC).

Hall served as a criminal defense attorney in a number of high-profile murder trials, including the 1907 Camden Town Murder . Part-time prostitute Emily Dimmock was found in a room with her throat cut and the artist Robert Wood was charged, and a postcard was found among Dimmock's belongings. Hall obtained an acquittal as well as in the Green Bicycle Case of 1919. A young woman was shot on a bicycle trip. Her companion got rid of the bicycle and a holster. Despite pressing evidence, Hall obtained an acquittal as no motive was apparent. Another successful case was that of Marguerite Alibert . In the case of the bathtub killer George Joseph Smith, he was defeated thanks to the convincing testimony of the coroner Bernard Spilsbury . In the case of Dr. Crippen was initially intended to be a lawyer, but retired after a disagreement with Crippen over defense strategy. In the case of the poisoner Frederick Seddon, he was defeated in 1912, mainly because Seddon, contrary to Hall's advice, insisted on testifying and making a bad impression. Hall was known for his talent as a public speaker and for dramatic cross-examination. He defended his clients unconditionally and passionately. Less known for his legal scholarship, he made no secret of this, which was offset by working with other lawyers (he himself often worked with solicitor Arthur Newton).

He was a Unionist MP for Southport (1900-1906) and Liverpool East Toxteth (1910-1916). However, to the disappointment of the public, his parliamentary speeches did not reach the level of his speeches in court.

He married Ethel Moon in 1882, but divorced in 1889. In his second marriage he was married to Henriette Kroeger, with whom he had a daughter Elna. He was involved in several affairs in his private life and was a passionate collector of antiques and traded with them, so that his fortune was subject to strong fluctuations.

Marshall Hall, caricature by Spy for Vanity Fair 1903

Marshall Hall was the subject of a BBC television series (Shadow of the Noose) with Jonathan Hyde as Hall.

literature

  • Edward Marjoribanks: For the Defense: The Life of Sir Edward Marshall Hall, London: Victor Gollancz, Macmillan 1929
  • Edward Marjoribanks: Famous Trials of Marshall Hall, Penguin, 1989.
  • Nina Warner Hooke, Gil Thomas: Marshall Hall, Arthur Barker, London 1966.
  • Sally Smith: Marshall Hall: A Law Unto Himself, Wildy Simmons & Hill Publishing, London 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philip Noble, Thomas More Chambers, Sally Smith's Biography Review , Counsel Magazine, September 2016
  2. ↑ Francis Fisher Kane's Review of Marjoribanks Biography, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Volume 21, Issue 1, May 1930, p. 6
personal data
SURNAME Hall, Edward Marshall
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hall, Marshall
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British lawyer
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Brighton
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1927