Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth

Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth

Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth PC ( December 18, 1790 - July 26, 1868 ) was a British lawyer and politician of the Whigs and later the Liberal Party , who was a member of the House of Commons for several years and between 1852 and 1858 as well was again Lord Chancellor twice between 1865 and 1866 .

Life

Early career

Rolfe, son of the Rev. John Edmund Rolfe, graduated in law at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge . After his legal admission at Lincoln's Inn , he took up a legal practice as a barrister in 1816 .

In 1832 Rolfe was elected as a candidate for the liberal Whigs for the first time as a member of the House of Commons, where he represented the constituency of Penryn and Falmouth until 1840 .

In July 1834 he was appointed by Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne , as the successor to Charles Pepys to Solicitor General and was as such until his replacement by William Webb Follett (1796-1845) in November 1834 deputy attorney general and thus one of the most important advisers to the Crown and the Government.

After William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, was again Prime Minister in April 1835, Rolfe took over the office of Solicitor General again as Follett's successor and remained in office until his replacement by Thomas Wilde in 1839.

Lord Chancellor

On November 2, 1850, Rolfe succeeded James Wigram (1793–1866) as Vice Chancellor of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice , the highest civil court in England and Wales, responsible for commercial law, antitrust law, will and property law . At the same time he became a member of the Privy Council . He kept this judge's office until April 1851. He was succeeded by George James Turner .

By a letters patent dated December 20, 1850, Rolfe was raised as a hereditary peer with the title Baron Cranworth , of Cranworth in the County of Norfolk , and thus belonged to the House of Lords until his death .

On December 28, 1852 he was first appointed Lord Chancellor (Lord Chancellor) by Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen , and thus succeeded Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St. Leonards . He also held the office of Lord Chancellor in the subsequent government of Prime Minister Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston until the end of his term on February 20, 1858. He was then replaced by Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford .

On July 7, 1865, Rolfe was reappointed Lord Chancellor to succeed Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury, by Prime Minister Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, and retained this position in the government of Prime Minister John Russell, 1st. Earl Russell , until June 26, 1866. He was succeeded again by Frederic Thesiger, 1st Baron Chelmsford.

Since his marriage to Laura Carr, which he entered into on October 9, 1845, remained childless, the title of Baron Cranworth expired on his death.

In 1899 the title was reassigned to Robert Gurdon (1829-1902), who was also a member of the House of Commons for several years as a representative of the Liberal Party.

Web links

• Robert Rolfe at Hansard (English)
• Entry on cracroftspeerage.co.uk
• Entry in leighrayment.com
• Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st and last Baron Cranworth on thepeerage.com , accessed August 20, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Cranworth 1850-1866	Title expired