William St Julien Arabin (177315 December 1841) was a British lawyer and judge who served as the Judge-Advocate-General of the Army for a three-and-a-half-month period (6 November 183821 February 1839).

Early life

Arabin was born abroad,''1841 England Census'' one of many sons of Henrietta Molyneux and her husband and Gen.

William John Arabin General William John Arabin (1750–1827) was an 18th/19th century British Army commander of Irish/French descent who was a flamboyant figure during the Napoleonic Wars. In the terminology of the day, he was a "macaroni". Life He was born in D ...

(originally from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

), who left him significant estates in Essex and Middlesex. His father divorced his mother in 1786 following her affair with Sir Thomas Sutton of Moulsey. His younger brother was

Septimus Arabin Septimus Arabinus Arabin (1785–1855) was an admiral in the Royal Navy of Irish/French descent. Life He was born in West Drayton a younger son of Colonel (later General) William John Arabin. His paternal grandfather, John Arabin was famed ...

. He was descended from one of the oldest families in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. His Huguenot ancestor Bartholomew d'Arabin fled to Holland after the

revocation of the edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

in 1685, and came over to England with King

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

in 1688. His maternal grandparents were

Sir Capel Molyneux, 3rd Baronet Sir Capel Molyneux, 3rd Baronet PC (Ire) (1717 – August 1797) was an Irish politician. Early life Capel was the son of Sir Thomas Molyneux, 1st Baronet and his second wife Catherine Howard, daughter of Professor Ralph Howard. In 1738 he succ ...

and the former Elizabeth East (sister of Sir William East, 1st Baronet). Arabin attended

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , he ...

and then studied Law at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

. He was admitted to

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 1793, and 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 ...

in 1801. He was appointed

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

in 1824.

Career

He was Deputy Recorder of the City of London. He served as Judge-Advocate-General of the Army 183839. He was a judge of the Central Criminal Court and of Sheriffs' Court, London. He was a

Verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderers ...

of the forests of

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

and Hainault. As a judge, Arabin was known as an eccentric figure who was notorious for his confused pronouncements. Some of his most famous quotes include: * ''Prisoner, God has given you good abilities, instead of which you go about the country stealing ducks.'' * ''If there ever was a case of clearer evidence than this of persons acting together, this case is that case...'' and * ''They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets — I know it from experience...''

Personal life

On 12 October 1803, Arabin married Mary Meux in Camden. She was a daughter of brewer Richard Meux and Mary (née Brougham) Meux and sister to

Sir Henry Meux, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Meux, 1st Baronet (pronounced "Mews") (8 May 1770 – 7 April 1841) was a British brewer, owner of the London brewery which became the Meux Brewery. Early life Meux was born on 8 May 1770. He was the second son of brewer Richard Meux ( ...

.Cokayne, G.E.; with Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, H.A.; White, Geoffrey H.; Warrand, Duncan; and de Walden, Lord Howard; editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 282. A sister, Fanny Meux, was the wife of Vicesimus Knox. Together, William and Mary were the parents of: * Richard Arabin (1812–1865), who married his first cousin, Elizabeth Mary Meux (1819–1880), a daughter of

, in 1839. He died at Arabin House in High Beech,

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...

, Essex, in 1841.

Descendants

Through his son Richard Arabin (1811-1865), he was a grandfather of William St Julien Arabin (1842-1907), Alice Charlotte Arabin (wife of Hon. Arthur Charles Lewin Cadogan, a son of

Henry Cadogan, 4th Earl Cadogan Henry Charles Cadogan, 4th Earl Cadogan PC (15 February 1812 – 8 June 1873), styled Viscount Chelsea between 1820 and 1864, was a British diplomat and Conservative politician. He served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 1866 and 18 ...

), and Marianne Elizabeth Arabin (wife of John William Gordon Woodford, son of Sir

Alexander George Woodford Field Marshal Sir Alexander George Woodford, GCB, KCMG (15 June 1782 – 26 August 1870), was a British Army officer. After taking part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland, he served in most of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars. During t ...

References

External links