Alfred Wills: Difference between revisions
m Removing from Category:British judges in subcat using Cat-a-lot |
m v2.05b - Bot T20 CW#61 - Fix errors for CW project (Reference before punctuation) |
||
| (11 intermediate revisions by 11 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a mountaineer}} |
|||
{{Use dmy dates|date=May |
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} |
||
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}} |
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}} |
||
[[File:SirAlfredWills (useable).jpg|thumb|Sir Alfred Wills.]] |
[[File:SirAlfredWills (useable).jpg|thumb|Sir Alfred Wills.]] |
||
| Line 11: | Line 12: | ||
[[File:Justice Wills Vanity Fair 25 June 1896.jpg|thumb|Wills caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] for ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1896]] |
[[File:Justice Wills Vanity Fair 25 June 1896.jpg|thumb|Wills caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] for ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1896]] |
||
Wills |
Wills was called to the [[barrister|bar]] by the [[Middle Temple]] in 1851 and was appointed [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1872. He was first Recorder of Sheffield, 1881–84; a Judge of the Queen's and King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, 1884–1905, President of the [[Railway and Canal Commission]], 1888–1893, and Treasurer of the Middle Temple, 1892–1893. |
||
During his career as a judge, his most notable |
During his career as a judge, his most notable act was presiding over the trial in which [[Oscar Wilde]] was convicted for "committing acts of [[sodomy law|gross indecency]] with other male persons". Willis sentenced Wilde to two years' hard labour.<ref>{{Old Bailey|defendant=Oscar Fingal O'Fflahartie Wills Wilde, Alfred Waterhouse Somerset Taylor|trialdate=22 April 1895|id= t18950520-425|access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> The judge described the sentence, the maximum allowed, as "totally inadequate for a case such as this," and that the case was "the worst case I have ever tried".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foldy |first=Michael S. |title=The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality and Late-Victorian Society |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |page=47 |year=1997 |isbn=0-300-07112-4}}</ref> Wilde's response of "And I? May I say nothing, my Lord?" was drowned out in cries of "Shame" in the courtroom<ref>[http://famous-trials.com/wilde/335-statement Sentencing Statement of Justice Wills] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326143605/http://famous-trials.com/wilde/335-statement |date=26 March 2018}}.</ref> |
||
With his father William Wills, he co-authored ''An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases'' (1905), still a standard text often cited.{{who|date=September 2014}} |
With his father William Wills, he co-authored ''An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases'' (1905), still a standard text often cited.{{who|date=September 2014}} |
||
| Line 25: | Line 26: | ||
==Publications== |
==Publications== |
||
*''Wanderings among the High Alps'' |
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=9HsSAAAAYAAJ ''Wanderings among the High Alps''] (1856) |
||
*''The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt'' (1860)<ref>{{cite journal|title=brief review of ''The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt''|date=November 1860|page=461|journal=Christian Examiner and Theological Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOcWAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA461}}</ref> |
|||
*''The Eagle's Nest'' |
|||
*''Wills on Circumstantial Evidence'' (ed.) |
*''Wills on Circumstantial Evidence'' (ed.) |
||
*''Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe'' (translation) |
*''Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe'' (translation) |
||
| Line 35: | Line 36: | ||
==Family== |
==Family== |
||
In 1854 Wills married Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married |
In 1854 Wills married Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married Bertha, daughter of Thomas Lombe Taylor, of [[Starston]], [[Norfolk]]. His second wife died in 1906. He had three sons and two daughters. |
||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
*[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/214097225.pdf] [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)]], The Honourable Sir Alfred Wills, 9 W. Res. L. Rev. 1 reprinted (1957) in the [[Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law]] (accessed 20 December 2020) |
*[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/214097225.pdf] ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', The Honourable Sir Alfred Wills, 9 W. Res. L. Rev. 1 reprinted (1957) in the [[Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law]] (accessed 20 December 2020) |
||
==External links== |
==External links== |
||
| Line 49: | Line 51: | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Alfred,}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Alfred,}} |
||
[[Category:British mountain climbers]] |
[[Category:British mountain climbers]] |
||
[[Category:British barristers]] |
|||
[[Category:1828 births]] |
[[Category:1828 births]] |
||
[[Category:1912 deaths]] |
[[Category:1912 deaths]] |
||
[[Category:English mountain climbers]] |
[[Category:English mountain climbers]] |
||
[[Category:English judges]] |
|||
[[Category:Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)]] |
[[Category:Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)]] |
||
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]] |
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]] |
||
| Line 59: | Line 59: | ||
[[Category:English barristers]] |
[[Category:English barristers]] |
||
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]] |
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]] |
||
[[Category: |
[[Category:19th-century King's Counsel]] |
||
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]] |
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]] |
||
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] |
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] |
||
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] |
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] |
||
[[Category:19th-century English |
[[Category:19th-century English judges]] |
||
[[Category: |
[[Category:20th-century English judges]] |
||
Latest revision as of 04:41, 19 November 2023
.jpg)
Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865.
Early life[edit]
Wills was the second son of William Wills, JP, of Edgbaston, Birmingham, and of his wife Sarah Wills, a daughter of Jeremiah Ridout. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and at University College London, where he held exhibitions and scholarships in Mathematics, Classics and Law, graduating BA in 1849 and LLB in 1851.
Legal career[edit]
Wills was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1851 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1872. He was first Recorder of Sheffield, 1881–84; a Judge of the Queen's and King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, 1884–1905, President of the Railway and Canal Commission, 1888–1893, and Treasurer of the Middle Temple, 1892–1893.
During his career as a judge, his most notable act was presiding over the trial in which Oscar Wilde was convicted for "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons". Willis sentenced Wilde to two years' hard labour.[1] The judge described the sentence, the maximum allowed, as "totally inadequate for a case such as this," and that the case was "the worst case I have ever tried".[2] Wilde's response of "And I? May I say nothing, my Lord?" was drowned out in cries of "Shame" in the courtroom[3]
With his father William Wills, he co-authored An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases (1905), still a standard text often cited.[who?]
Mountaineer[edit]
The ascent of the Wetterhorn above Grindelwald in the Bernes Alps by Wills and his party in 1854, which Wills mistakenly believed was the first (actually summited a decade earlier by local guides Melchior Bannholzer and Hans Jaun on 31 August 1844) is considered the beginning of the so-called golden age of alpinism. His account of the expedition helped make climbing mountains as sport fashionable.
He was the third President of the Alpine Club from 1863 to 1865.
A mountain hut near Chamonix bears his name: the Refuge Alfred Wills.
Publications[edit]
- Wanderings among the High Alps (1856)
- The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt (1860)[4]
- Wills on Circumstantial Evidence (ed.)
- Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe (translation)
Honours[edit]
- Knighted, 1884
- Privy Councillor, 1905
Family[edit]
In 1854 Wills married Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married Bertha, daughter of Thomas Lombe Taylor, of Starston, Norfolk. His second wife died in 1906. He had three sons and two daughters.
References[edit]
- ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online, Trial of Oscar Fingal O'Fflahartie Wills Wilde, Alfred Waterhouse Somerset Taylor. (t18950520-425, 22 April 1895).
- ^ Foldy, Michael S. (1997). The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality and Late-Victorian Society. Yale University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-300-07112-4.
- ^ Sentencing Statement of Justice Wills Archived 26 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "brief review of The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt". Christian Examiner and Theological Review: 461. November 1860.
- [1] Vanity Fair, The Honourable Sir Alfred Wills, 9 W. Res. L. Rev. 1 reprinted (1957) in the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law (accessed 20 December 2020)
External links[edit]
- A good explanation of "An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence" and its importance
- Refuge Alfred Wills
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- British mountain climbers
- 1828 births
- 1912 deaths
- English mountain climbers
- Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)
- Queen's Bench Division judges
- Alumni of University College London
- English barristers
- Members of the Middle Temple
- 19th-century King's Counsel
- Knights Bachelor
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- 19th-century English judges
- 20th-century English judges