William Bodkin (judge)
Sir William Henry Bodkin (5 August 1791[1] – 26 March 1874[2]) was a British barrister and Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1841 to 1847, before becoming a judge.
Early life
Bodkin was the son of Peter Bodkin from Galway and his wife Sarah.[1] His father's family had long connections with County Galway.[3]
He was educated at the Islington Academy and called to the bar in 1826 at Gray's Inn.[1]
Career
Bodkin initially practised on the Home Circuit, taking mostly criminal cases at the Middlesex, Westminster and Kent Sessions, and in the Central Criminal Court in the Old Bailey.[3] was appointed as a recorder of Dover in 1834.[1]
He was elected at the 1841 general election as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Rochester in Kent,[4] winning the seat by a margin of only two votes over the Liberal Party candidate Viscount Melgund.[3] Bodkin was defeated at the 1847 general election[5] as a result of his support for the free trade measures introduced by Sir Robert Peel.[1] He did not stand at the 1852 general election,[5] but unsuccessfully contested the borough at a by-election in February 1856.[5]
He later became a Justice of the Peace (J.P) in Middlesex, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex,[1] and judge of the Court of Sessions in Middlesex.[1]
He was an active member of the Society of Arts, becoming its vice-president.[1][3] He wrote several pamphlets on the English Poor Laws.[1][3]
Bodkin died aged 82 on 26 March 1874,[2] after a long and painful illness.[3] He was buried in the family grave at Highgate Cemetery[7]
Personal life
Bodkin lived at West Hill in Highgate, North London.[3]
He married twice, first in 1812[3] to Sara Sophia Poland,[1] who died in 1848, and then in 1865 to Sarah Constance Miles, the daughter of Joseph Johnson Miles, a J.P from Highgate.[1] He had one son and one daughter.[1]
He is buried with his first wife.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Mair, Robert Henry (1870). Debrett's Illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1870. London: Dean & Son. p. 455.
- 1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Late Sir W. H. Bodkin". The Times. London. 28 March 1874. p. 8, col C.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 19998. p. 1812. 13 July 1841. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- 1 2 3 Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 258. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
- ↑ "From the LONDON GAZETTE, Tuesday, Aug. 6". The Times. London. 7 August 1867. p. 3, col A.
- ↑ "The Late Sir William Bodkin.-The mortal". The Times. London. 2 April 1874. p. 5, col B.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Henry Bodkin