Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell

Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell

Herschell as Solicitor General in a cartoon for Vanity Fair magazine (March 9, 1881)

Farrer (Farrar) Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell PC QC (born November 2, 1837 , † March 1, 1899 in Washington, DC ) was a British lawyer and politician of the Liberal Party who, among other things, was a member of the House of Commons for eleven years and in 1886 between 1892 and 1895 was Lord Chancellor (Lord High Chancellor) .

Life

Lawyer, Member of the House of Commons and Solicitor General

Farrer, son of the clergyman Reverend Ridley Henry Herschell, graduated from school with a law degree at University College London and, after being admitted to the bar ( Inns of Court ) of Lincoln's Inn, began working as a barrister in 1860 . For his services he was a lawyer in 1872 so-called "Bencher" the Law Society of Lincoln's Inn, and Crown Counsel (Queen's Counsel) . After finishing his work as a lawyer, he was city judge ( recorder ) of Carlisle between 1873 and 1880 .

On June 13, 1874, Herschell was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Party for the first time to the House of Commons and represented the constituency of Durham until November 24, 1885 .

Herschell succeeded Hardinge Giffard as Solicitor General in 1880 and as such was Deputy Attorney General (Attorney General) until his replacement by John Eldon Gorst on July 2, 1885, and thus one of the most important advisers to the Crown and the government of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone .

Twice Lord Chancellor, House of Lords and Chancellor of the University of London

On February 6, 1886, he succeeded Hardinge Giffard, 1st Baron of Halsbury, the office of Lord Chancellor (Lord High Chancellor) in the second government of Prime Minister Gladstone and held this office until July 20, 1886. Shortly after taking office Herschell was raised by a letters patent dated February 8, 1886 as a hereditary peer with the title of 1st Baron Herschell of the City of Durham and was thus also a member of the House of Lords . At the same time he became a member of the Privy Council in 1886 .

Herschell, who was awarded various honorary doctorates as Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) and Doctor of Law (LL.D.), was at times Lord Lieutenant of Kent and County Durham .

In the third government of Prime Minister Gladstone, he again succeeded Hardinge Giffard, 1st Baron of Halsbury, on August 18, 1892 as Lord Chancellor and retained this position in the subsequent government of Prime Minister Archibald Philip Primrose, 5. Earl of Rosebery until the end of his term on June 21, 1895. He was again the 1st Baron of Halsbury.

Herschell, who as for his many years of service in 1893 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath was excellent (GCB), took over in 1893 as successor to the late Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby also function as Chancellor of the University of London and has held this office until his death on March 1, 1899. He was then succeeded by John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley .

His marriage to Agnes Adela Porcher on December 20, 1876 resulted in four children, including the eldest child and only son Richard Farrer Herschell , who inherited the title of 2nd Baron Herschell after the death of his father. While the eldest daughter died as a toddler, the second daughter Agnes Freda Herschell was married to Archibald Williamson, 1st Baron Forres and the youngest daughter Muriel Fanny Herschell was married to Brigadier General Ralph Maximilian Yorke, a son of the long-time MP of the Conservative Party , John Yorke .

Web links

• Farrer Herschell at Hansard (English)
• Entry on cracroftspeerage.co.uk
• Entry in leighrayment.com
• Farrar Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell of the City of Durban on thepeerage.com , accessed August 19, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Herschell 1886–1899	Richard Farrer Herschell