Sir James Cochrane (1798 – 24 June 1883), was

Chief Justice of Gibraltar The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar is one of the four judges who make up the supreme court of Gibraltar. Previously the Chief Justice was appointed by the Governor of Gibraltar on the advice of the British Foreign and Commonwealt ...

. One of the most notable cases he handled was the enquiry into the

Mary Celeste ''Mary Celeste'' (; often erroneously referred to as Marie Celeste) was an American-registered merchant brigantine, best known for being discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores Islands on December 4, 1872. The Cana ...

. Judge's Cave in Gibraltar is named for him.

Early life

Cochrane was the son of Thomas Cochrane, speaker of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, and was born there in 1798. Among his large family was his elder half-sister, Margaret Cochran, the wife of Sir

Rupert George Captain Sir Rupert George, 1st Baronet (16 January 1749, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, Ireland – 25 January 1823, Willesden, London Borough of Brent, Greater London, England) was a British naval officer in the American Revolution, became the ...

, the Commodore for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

North America Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the t ...

. Two other sisters were Elizabeth Cochran (wife of Rt. Rev. John Inglis, Bishop of Nova Scotia) and Isabella Cochran (wife of Dean

Edward Bannerman Ramsay Edward Bannerman Ramsay, (17 January 1793– 27 December 1872), usually referred to as Dean Ramsay, was a clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature through his ''Re ...

). His brother was Thomas Cochran, who served as the third Chief Justice of Prince Edward Island and later in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

where he perished in Lake Ontario in 1804.

Career

He was called to the bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1829 and he became the

Attorney General of Gibraltar The Attorney General of Gibraltar is the chief legal advisor of HM Government of Gibraltar. He combines the functions of Attorney General and Director of Public Prosecution and is also an ex officio member of the Gibraltar Parliament. The Attorney ...

in 1837. He was replaced in that position by the Irish attorney Marcus Costello when he was made chief justice there on the 3 July 1841.Appointments
The Spectator, 3 July 1841, retrieved 29 September 2014 He was knighted in 1845. During his time in Gibraltar he presided over the Vice Admiralty Court in December 1872 which enquired into the fate of the

, a ship that was found abandoned at sea without any rational explanation. Cochrane resigned in 1877 after serving as Chief Justice for thirty-six years. On that occasion General Lord Napier of Magdala,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the fortress, said of him:

Personal life

Cochrane had married Theresa in 1829, daughter of Colonel William Haly, who died in 1873. He died at Glen Rocky, his house in Gibraltar, on 24 June 1883, leaving one son, the Rev. Thomas Cochrane, rector of

Stapleford Abbotts Stapleford Abbotts is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, approximately SW of Ongar, N of Romford and SSE of Epping. The whole parish is within the M25 motorway. The village covers and had a population of 959 ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. When Cochrane was first appointed, he had a villa constructed during the 1840s and whilst it was being built a cave was discovered. Judge's Cave took its name from Cochrane. The cave was of some importance as it contained human remains and early visitors to the cave included Abbe Henri Breuil,

George Busk George Busk FRS FRAI (12 August 1807 – 10 August 1886) was a British naval surgeon, zoologist and palaeontologist. Early life, family and education Busk was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the son of the merchant Robert Busk and his ...

and local investigater William Willoughby Verner Cole.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, James 1798 births 1883 deaths Attorneys-General of Gibraltar Chief justices of Gibraltar Mary Celeste People from Nova Scotia 19th-century Gibraltarian judges