Charles Swinfen Eady, 1st Baron Swinfen, (31 July 1851 – 15 November 1919) was a British lawyer and judge.

Biography

Eady was the son of George John Eady of

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...

, Surrey, and his wife Laura Maria Smith, daughter of Richard Smith. He was educated privately and at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, and was admitted a solicitor in 1874. In 1879 Eady was called to the Bar,

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 ...

. He built a successful legal practice and became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1893. He was appointed a Judge of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

(Chancery Division) in November 1901, and knighted the following month. He held this office until 1913, when he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, serving until 1918. The latter year he succeeded Lord Cozens-Hardy as

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

. However, Eady's health soon began to decline and he resigned in the autumn of 1919. He had been admitted to the Privy Council in 1913 and on 1 November 1919 was raised to the peerage as Baron Swinfen, of

in the County of Surrey. Mr Justice Swinfen Eady gave a key judgment in 1903 which protected Kodak's trademarks from infringement from competitors,''Kodak v London Stereoscopic'' (1903) 20 RPC 337 which the ''British Journal of Photography'' described as the most important for photography to have been heard since ''Talbot v. Laroche'' in 1854. He also gave the judgment in '' Percival v Wright'' 9022 Ch 401, a key decision on directors' duties. Lord Swinfen married, in 1894, Blanche Maude Lee, daughter of Sydney Williams Lee. They had one son and two daughters. He died, aged sixty-eight, at 33 Hyde Park Gardens, London, on 15 November 1919, only two weeks after his elevation to the peerage. He was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

. He was succeeded in the barony by his only son Charles, 2nd Baron Swinfen.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinfen, Charles Swinfen Eady, 1st Baron 1851 births 1919 deaths 1 Alumni of the University of London Masters of the Rolls Members of the Inner Temple English King's Counsel Chancery Division judges Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom British solicitors 19th-century English lawyers Barons created by George V