John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton, (18 November 1844 – 9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister, judge and Liberal politician. He was a Cambridge Apostle.

Early life

Moulton was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England, as one of six children of a scholarly minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, James Egan Moulton. He was sent to Kingswood School at the age of 11 where he excelled at academic subjects. He achieved the top marks in the Oxford and Cambridge Local Examinations and achieved a scholarship to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, graduating Senior Wrangler in 1868 and winning the

Smith's Prize The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the n ...

. He was at one point judged to be one of the twelve most intelligent men in the United Kingdom.

Career

After a brilliant mathematical career at Cambridge and election to a Fellowship, Moulton became a London barrister, specialising in patent law. He also experimented on electricity and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. A great advocate for medical research, he was the first chair of the Medical Research Council. He was awarded the French Legion of Honour for his work in establishing international units for measuring electricity. Moulton became a Liberal Party Member of Parliament successively for Clapham 1885–86, South Hackney 1894–95, and Launceston 1898–1906. He backed the attempts of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

to solve the problems in Ireland through Irish Home Rule. In 1906 Moulton was made Lord Justice on 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 ...

and

Privy Councillor 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 ...

. In 1912 he entered the House of Lords with a life peerage and the title, created on 1 October, Baron Moulton, of Bank in the County of Southampton. The First World War gave Lord Moulton his greatest challenge. In 1914 he became chairman of a committee to advise on the supply of explosives, a difficult problem because the British had only a feeble organic chemistry industry. Before long Moulton became Director-General of the Explosives Department, first in the War Office and later in the Ministry of Munitions. He mobilised a brilliant group of administrators and scientists who expanded production more than 20-fold— throughout the war there was more explosives than shells to hold them. They also made fertilizers, and in 1917 became responsible for producing poisonous gases. Though loyal to orders, Moulton believed that poison gas was a departure from civilised warfare. During the entire four war years Lord Moulton worked a ten-hour day and took less than ten days holiday. On weekends he drove about the country to inspect munitions plants and to locate sites for new ones. He was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1915, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1917, the Etoile Noir of France, the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Le ...

and was the last person to receive the Order of the White Eagle before the collapse of the Russian monarchy. Moulton also corresponded with Charles Darwin. After the war, despite pressure to lead the expansion of the British chemical industry, he returned to his love: the law. He died in London on 9 March 1921. In July 1924, The Atlantic published an impromptu speech Lord Moulton had given at the Authors' Club in London a few years prior to his death: "Law and Manners."Law And Manners
/ref> In it, he addresses "the domain of Obedience to the Unenforceable."

Family

He married Clara Thomson née Hertz (widow of Robert William Thomson) on 24 April 1875. She died in 1888.

Arms

Notes

External links

*
Speech
from

John Silber John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again ...

about John Fletcher Moulton (1995)
''Notes Rec. R. Soc.'' 20 December 2009 vol. 63 no. 4 355–363, "John Fletcher Moulton and Guglielmo Marconi: bridging science, Law and industry
* Science and War (Rede Lecture, 1919) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moulton, John Fletcher Moulton, Baron 1844 births 1921 deaths 20th-century English judges English mathematicians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union Law lords Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Hackney Members of Parliament UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs who were granted peerages John Fletcher Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Senior Wranglers Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Launceston Members of London County Council Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Life peers created by George V