Sir Franklin Lushington (4 January 1823 – 10 November 1901) was a British barrister and judge. He was
Chief Magistrate of the Metropolitan Police Courts in London from 1899 until his death, in succession to
Sir John Bridge.
A member of the Lushington family, Franklin Lushington was the son of
Edmund Henry Lushington and the brother of
Henry Lushington. He was a member of the
Supreme Council of Justice of the United States of the Ionian Islands, serving until 1858. Appointed a metropolitan magistrate at the Thames Magistrates' Court in 1869, he was transferred to
Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Bow Street Magistrates' Court became one of the most famous magistrates' court in England. Over its 266-year existence it occupied various buildings on Bow Street in Central London, immediately north-east of Covent Garden. It closed in 2006 a ...
in 1890.
Franklin Lushington was a close friend of the writer Edward Lear, whom he met in Malta in 1849. They subsequently embarked on a tour of southern Greece together. Lear developed strong feelings for Lushington, but Lushington did not fully reciprocate these feelings. Despite this, they maintained their friendship for nearly four decades until Lear's death. The imbalance of their emotions constantly troubled Lear, and his attempts at forming intimate relationships with men were not always fruitful. The intensity of Lear's affections may have contributed to the difficulties he faced in sustaining these relationships.
[Susan Chitty, That Singular Person Called Lear, Atheneum, 1989]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lushington, Franklin
Knights Bachelor
1901 deaths
Members of the Inner Temple
People educated at Rugby School
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
19th-century English judges
United States of the Ionian Islands people
1823 births
Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)