Sir (James) Forrest Fulton (12 July 1846 – 25 June 1926) was a

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judge and

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politician.

Early life

Born in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

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, he was the youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel James Forrest Fulton and his wife, Fanny née Jessopp. Fulton was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

under his uncle, the Reverend

Augustus Jessopp Augustus Jessopp (20 December 1823 – 12 February 1914) was an English cleric and writer. He spent periods of time as a schoolmaster and then later as a clergyman in Norfolk, England. He wrote regular articles for ''The Nineteenth Century'', va ...

before attending the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He graduated with a BA degree in 1867 and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1873.

Legal career 1872–1886

Fulton was

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at the

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in 1872. Practising on the

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, he held a number of senior legal posts including treasury counsel at the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Sessions, senior counsel to the Post Office and senior counsel to the Treasury at the Central Criminal Court.

Member of parliament 1886–1892

At the 1885 general election, Fulton was the Conservative Party's candidate to contest the newly created constituency of West Ham North. He was defeated by a margin of 719 votes. A further election was held in 1886, and Fulton stood at West Ham North again. He was elected to the

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with a majority of 727 votes. He was described as having "made no particular mark" in parliament, and was unseated at the next general election in 1892, losing to the

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candidate, Archibald Grove, by 33 votes.

Common Serjeant and Recorder of London 1892–1922

On leaving parliament, he was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

, and was briefly

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. In August 1892 Sir William Charley resigned as

Common Serjeant of London The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...

and Fulton was appointed his successor. He was

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in the same year, and made a Lieutenant of the City of London, a Commissioner of the Central Criminal Court, and a Judge of the Mayor's Court of London. While Common Serjeant he presided over the case that led to the conviction of Adolph Beck for fraud in 1896. Eight years later an enquiry established that the conviction was a

miscarriage of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal procedure, criminal or civil procedure, civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they actual innocence, did not commit. Mis ...

, a decision that led to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal. In March 1900 Sir Charles Hall,

Recorder of London The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

, died. Fulton was chosen to fill the post later the same month. He was succeeded as

by Frederick Albert Bosanquet QC. As Recorder Fulton tried the case of

Kitty Byron Emma 'Kitty' Byron (1878 – after 1908) was a British murderer found guilty in 1902 of stabbing to death her lover Arthur Reginald Baker, for which crime she received the death sentence. This was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. ...

, who was charged with the murder of Arthur Reginald Baker in 1902. Fulton held the Recordership until March 1922, when he resigned due to ill health. He died at his home in

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, in June 1925, aged 79.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, James Forrest 1845 births 1925 deaths People from Sheringham People educated at Norwich School Alumni of the University of London Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 Members of the Middle Temple Common Serjeants of London Recorders of London