Harry Trelawney Eve Vanity Fair 15 March 1911

Sir Harry Trelawney Eve (13 October 1856 – 10 December 1940) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and Liberal Party politician.

Family and education

Harry Trelawney Eve was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was the only son of Thomas Eve, a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

merchant. He was educated privately and at Exeter College, Oxford where he gained his BA degree in 1876 and his MA in 1883. On 24 June 1879, Eve married Beatrice Wright, daughter of Henry Strangways Hounsell, a medical doctor from

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

. They moved to

Crouch End Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villag ...

, initially occupying Holne House on Totteham Lane, before moving to Hermiston on Middle Lane. By 1911, they had moved to West Kensington. They had one son (who was killed in action in 1917) and two daughters. Harry Trelawney Eve was building "Forder Gardens" in South Devon for his son, when he died in action. The house was left incomplete, with only the walls and Gate houses left behind.

Career

Eve went in for the law. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1881, practised at the Chancery Bar and took silk in 1895. He became a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1899. In 1907 he was appointed to be a judge in the Chancery Division and he served in that capacity until 1937 when he retired. He was asked to sit in the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

on many occasions but was never promoted to sit there permanently. Eve was also a farmer. He owned land in Devon and farmed it professionally. He was particularly interested in the breeding of South Devon cattle. He listed farming as a recreation in

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

and was member of the Farming Club. Eve had other business and financial interests too. In 1907 he was elected as a director of the Equitable Life Assurance Society.

Politics

In 1904, Eve accepted the invitation of the Liberal Party in Ashburton in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

to become their candidate in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

caused by the death of the sitting Liberal MP,

Charles Seale-Hayne Charles Hayne Seale Hayne PC (22 October 1833 – 22 November 1903) of Fuge House in the parish of Blackawton and of Kingswear Castle, Dartmouth harbour, both in Devon, was a British businessman and Liberal politician, serving as Member of Pa ...

. He won the seat and represented Ashburton until 1907 when he resigned to take up his appointment as a judge.

Other appointments and honours

Eve was made a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the county of Devon in 1903. In 1907 he was elected an honorary fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the same year. He retired from the bench in 1937 for reasons of declining health and was sworn in as a member of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

Death

Eve died at Eldon House, Lower Bourne,

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, on 10 December 1940, aged 84.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eve, Harry 1856 births 1940 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford English barristers 20th-century English judges Members of Lincoln's Inn Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashburton Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Chancery Division judges English justices of the peace People from Ashburton, Devon