Robert Porrett Collier, 1st Baron Monkswell, (21 June 1817 – 27 October 1886) was an English lawyer, politician and judge.

Background and education

He was the eldest son of John Collier, a merchant of Plymouth, formerly a member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

and MP for that town from 1832 to 1842. Robert Collier was born in 1817, and was educated at the grammar school and other schools at Plymouth till the age of sixteen, when he was placed under the tuition of Mr Kemp, subsequently rector of St James's, Piccadilly, London. He went to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and while there wrote some clever parodies, and published a satirical poem called 'Granta'. Ill-health compelled him to abandon reading for honours and to quit the university, to which he only returned to take the ordinary B.A. degree in 1843. Already a politician, he made some speeches at Launceston in 1841 with a view to contesting the borough in the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

interest, but did not go to the poll, and he was an active member of the

Anti-Corn Law League The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a tim ...

and addressed the meetings in

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Career at the bar

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 ...

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 ...

Hilary term Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordBaron Platt) refused to reserve a point of law on which Collier insisted. Collier hurried to London and laid the matter before the Home Secretary (Sir James Graham) and Sir

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

. Both ministers appear to have been convinced by Collier's argument, and on 5 August, it was announced in both Houses of Parliament that Baron Platt had yielded. The subsequent argument before all the judges in London of the point taken at the trial resulted in the grant of a free pardon to Collier's clients. On his next visit to Exeter he had nineteen briefs. Local influence and wide practical knowledge gave him a good practice, and he was an excellent

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Political career

He was appointed

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of Penzance, and in 1852 he was returned to Parliament for

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, in the

interest, and retained the seat till he became a member of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

Lord Cranworth Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth, PC (18 December 1790 – 26 July 1868) was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He twice served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Born at Cranworth, Norfolk, he wa ...

made him a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1854. After a keen rivalry with

Montague Edward Smith Sir Montague Edward Smith (25 December 1806 – 3 May 1891) was a British barrister and judge who served as one of the last Justice of the Common Pleas, Justices of the Court of Common Pleas (England), Court of Common Pleas. Early life Smith wa ...

, afterwards a judge, for the foremost place, he obtained the lead of the circuit and kept it for many years Robert Collier Vanity Fair 19 February 1870

Robert Collier Vanity Fair 19 February 1870

In 1859, he was appointed counsel to the

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and Judge-Advocate of the Fleet. It was his opinion in favour of detaining the Confederate rams in the Mersey that Mr Adams, the American minister, submitted in 1862 to Lord John Russell, and, although too late to prevent the ''

CSS Alabama CSS ''Alabama'' was a screw sloop-of-war built in 1862 for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead on the River Mersey opposite Liverpool, England by John Laird Sons and Company. ''Alabama'' served as a successful commerce raider, attackin ...

'' going to sea, it was afterwards adopted by the law officers of the Crown. He had spoken frequently and with good effect in Parliament, especially on trade with Russia in 1855, but chiefly on legal topics; and when, on Sir

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in '' Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

's retirement in October 1863, Sir Roundell Palmer became

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, Collier's appointment as Solicitor-General, (receiving the customary knighthood) in succession to him was somewhat unexpected. He filled the office, however, with success until the Liberal government resigned in 1866, and in December 1868 he became Attorney-General, and in the next year he had the conduct of the Bankruptcy Bill in the House of Commons. He was, while Attorney-General, appointed Recorder of Bristol, but resigned the appointment at once in deference to the wishes of his constituency.

Appointment to the Judicial Committee

In 1871, to enable the

, to overtake its arrears of colonial appeals, an act was passed providing for four paid judgeships, two of which were to be held by judges or ex-judges of the English bench. To none could one of the law officers be appointed. One of these two judgeships was accepted by Montague Smith. The other was offered to and refused by three English judges, and a fourth having intimated that he would refuse it if offered,

Lord Hatherley William Page Wood, 1st Baron Hatherley, PC (29 November 1801 – 10 July 1881) was a British lawyer and statesman who served as a Liberal Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1868 and 1872 in William Ewart Gladstone's first ministry. ...

, the Lord Chancellor, thought it unseemly to hawk the appointment about any further. It was imperative that the vacancy should be at once filled, and Collier agreed to relieve the government in this difficulty. To give him the necessary technical qualification, he was first appointed to the Privy Council, on 3 November 1871. Lord Hatherley then arranged for his appointment to a vacant puisne judgeship in the

Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, on 7 November 1871. Here he sat a few days only; three judgments of his are, however, reported. Though a writ was made out appointing him a serjeant, it was never executed in open court, nor was he a member of Serjeants' Inn. Then, on November 23, 1871,

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 ...

appointed him to the vacancy on the Privy Council. No doubt was cast either on his fitness for the place or on his personal conduct in accepting it; but a controversy, very damaging to the government, arose out of the appointment. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and Chief Justice Bovill protested against it as contrary to the spirit of the act, and on 15 February 1872, Lord Stanhope made a motion in the House of Lords condemning it, which was lost only by two votes. A similar motion in the House of Commons was lost by only twenty-seven. Collier held this post until his death, and the task of giving literary shape to the judgments of the Privy Council was frequently committed to him. In 1885, he was created a peer, as Baron Monkswell, of Monkswell in the County of Devon, taking his title from Monkswell, a small property in Devonshire.

Works

He published a treatise on the Railways Clauses Acts, 1845; another on Mines in 1849; a letter to Lord John Russell on the 'Reform of the Common Law Courts,' 1851, 2nd ed. 1852; and a translation of 'Demosthenes de Coronâ' in 1875. It was chiefly in painting, of which he was passionately fond, that he was distinguished. As a young man he drew very clever caricatures in the H.B. manner. When solicitor-general he painted in St. James's Park, and he exhibited frequently at the

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and

Grosvenor Gallery The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé. The gallery proved crucial to the Aesthetic Movement because it prov ...

, especially pictures of the neighbourhood of Rosenlaui, Switzerland, where he spent many vacations.

Family

Collier married in 1844 Isabella Rose (1815–1886), daughter of William Rose of Woolston Heath. near

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. Both Collier and his son John were keen painters. In c1880, Collier had a new home built at 7

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, including artists' studios. After her sudden death in April 1886, in failing health, he went to the Riviera, and died at

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

on 27 October 1886. He was buried in London on 3 November. His grave lies on the east side of the main path from the north entrance to the central colonnades in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...

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. He was succeeded by his son

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, a barrister, who graduated in the first class of the Cambridge law tripos, 1866, and held the post of conveyancing counsel to the treasury; his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, was a well-known artist; and his daughter Margaret, Mme. Galettidi Cadilhac, has written ''Our Home by the Adriatic'' and ''Prince Peerless'', a fairy tale.

Arms

Judicial decisions

In 1873, Collier gave the decision for the Judicial Committee in '' R v Coote'', the first Canadian constitutional law case decided by the Judicial Committee under the

British North America Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

. Collier upheld the power of the province of provinces to give fire commissioners the power to compel witnesses to testify in inquiries into fires.''R v Coote''
(1873), L.R. 4 P.C. 599,

873 __NOTOC__ Year 873 ( DCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Carloman, son of King Charles the Bald, is hauled before a secular court an ...

UKPC 26 (PC).

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monkswell, Robert Porrett Collier, 1st Baron 1817 births 1886 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Solicitors General for England and Wales Attorneys General for England and Wales UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs who were granted peerages Burials at Brompton Cemetery Justices of the Common Pleas Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 19th-century English judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Plymouth Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria