Joseph Brown CB KC (4 April 1809 – 9 June 1902) was an English barrister and

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Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. He held the positions of both Lent

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(1869) and Treasurer (1878) of the Temple, and also served as the Chairman of the

Incorporated Council of Law Reporting The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) is a registered charity based in London, England, that publishes law reports of English law. The company is widely recognised as a reputable producer of reports (and the only ' ...

. At his death at the age of 93, he was the oldest living King's Counsel, and the third-longest serving.

Biography

Early life

Joseph Brown was born in

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, the son of a wine merchant - also named Joseph - who was the cousin of Timothy Brown. He was educated at a grammar school in Camberwell, and thereafter at a private school in Wimbledon. At the age of eighteen, he began his career with Armstrong & Co., a firm of West India merchants.

Legal career

In 1829, he began to study law under Peter Turner, a London solicitor. Brown was admitted to the Middle Temple in January 1832. He initially studied as a special pleader under

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, and then Sir John Bayley; becoming a pleader under the bar in 1834. He was called to the bar on 7 November 1845 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1865. That same year, he was instrumental in the preparation and publication of the Law Reports. He represented Middle Temple on the

, eventually chairing the council from 1875 to 1892. In 1878, he held to position of Treasurer of the Middle Temple. As part of his role, in December of that year he proposed an address to be sent to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

on the death of her daughter, Princess Alice. In 1880, he gave evidence to a Committee of the House of Commons on the bill which would eventually become the Employers' Liability Act 1880. On his retirement, he was created a CB in the 1892 Birthday Honours.

Notable Cases Argued

* 1858: ''Trial of the Royal British Bank Directors'' * 1869: ''Great Western Railway'' ''Co. v. Sutton'' * 1870: ''R. v. Southampton Port Commissioners'' * 1870: ''Schibsby v Westenholz''

Marriage and children

Brown married Mary Smith (1808–1891), of Winchcombe on 24 August 1840. They had three sons and two daughters together: *Marianne Brown (1841–1922), married Joseph Addison, partner in Linklater & Co. and president of the Law Society. *Helen Brown (1843–1917) *Harold Brown (1844–1910), partner in Linklater & Co. *Reginald Brown KC (1846–1936), barrister of Middle Temple, JP of Cheshire, and County Court Judge. *Oswald Brown (1848–1906), hydraulic engineer, practiced in Germany, Australia, France and the UK

Death

Joseph died at his residence in Regent's Park, London, on 9 June 1902.

Published works

* 1859: ''The Dark Side of Trial by Jury'' * 1865: ''The Evils of Unlimited Liability for Accidents of Masters and Railway Companies, especially since Lord Campbell's Act'' * 1874: ''The Tichborne case: compared with previous impostures of the same kind'' * 1877: ''Eastern Christianity and the War: The Idolatry, Superstition and Corruption of the Christians of Turkey, Greece, and, Russia''

Recognition

* Queen's Counsel (QC), 17 February 1865 * Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB), 25 May 1892

Arms

References

External links

Chess Notes by Edward Winter - Joseph Brown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Joseph 1809 births 1902 deaths English barristers 19th-century King's Counsel Companions of the Order of the Bath