John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton (18 November 1844 – 9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister, judge and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

politician. He was a

Cambridge Apostle The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar. History Student ...

Early life

Moulton was born in Madeley,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

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, as one of six children of a scholarly minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, James Egan Moulton. He was sent to

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

at the age of 11 where he excelled at academic subjects. He achieved the top marks in the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Local Examinations and achieved a scholarship to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, graduating

Senior Wrangler The Senior Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain". Specifically, it is the person who achiev ...

in 1868 and winning the

Smith's Prize 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 names ...

. 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 Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. A great advocate for medical research, he was the first chair of the Medical Research Council. He was awarded the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

for his work in establishing international units for measuring electricity. Moulton also corresponded with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. Moulton became a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Member of Parliament successively for

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

1885–86,

South Hackney South Hackney is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney. It is in East London and is about northeast of Charing Cross. The Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy on the corner of Victoria Park Road and Lammas Wal ...

1894–95, and Launceston 1898–1906. He backed the attempts of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

to solve the problems in Ireland through

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

. In 1906 Moulton was made Lord Justice on the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and Privy Councillor. In 1912 he entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

with a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

and the title, created on 1 October, Baron Moulton, of

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

in the

County of Southampton Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wilt ...

. The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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. At 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 The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

in 1915, the

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1917, the Etoile Noir of France, the

Order of Leopold (Belgium) The Order of Leopold (, , ) 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 Leopold I. It consists of a military, a ma ...

and was the last person to receive the Order of the White Eagle before the collapse of the Russian monarchy. 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." In it, he addresses "the domain of Obedience to the Unenforceable."

Family

He married Clara Thomson née Hertz (born c.1836) widow of

Robert William Thomson Robert William Thomson Royal Scottish Society of Arts, PRSSA FRSE (29 June 1822 – 8 March 1873) was a Scottish inventor known for inventing the refillable fountain pen and the pneumatic tire, tyre. Life He was born on 29 June 1822 in Sto ...

) on 24 April 1875. She died in 1888. His second marriage, on 20 May 1901 in Naples, was to Mary May Davis (born 10 February 1870 in Massachusetts). He had one child from his first marriage (Hugh Lawrence Fletcher Moulton 1876-1962), and one daughter, Sylvia, by his second marriage. He also had two stepsons and two stepdaughters, all from his first marriage. During 1904 his two stepdaughters mounted a legal action against him, arguing that in his capacity as executor of their mother`s will, he had not paid to them various monies left to them by their mother in that will. The judgment in the Chancery Court handed down in June 1905 supported Moulton`s contention in his defence that it was legitimate for him to claim that an unwritten agreement existed under which he was entitled to deduct money for the step-daughters` board and keep during the period they were living under his roof. In March 1906 the Appeal Court overturned that judgment and found against Moulton.The Civil and Military Gazette, 13 April 1906, p.6

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 People from Madeley, Shropshire 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