Life

He was the son of John Bacon, of King's Lynn

King's Lynn

King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, born about 1587. He began his legal studies at Barnard's Inn

Barnard's Inn

Barnard's Inn is the current home of Gresham College in Holborn, London.-History:Barnard's Inn dates back at least to the mid 13th century — it was recorded as part of the estate of Sir Adam de Basyng, one time Mayor of London. It passed on to John Mackworth, the Dean of Lincoln who in turn passed...

, and was admitted a member of Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 in February 1607. He was not called to the bar until eight years later in 1615. His name as counsel is not found in contemporary reports, and it has been inferred that his practice must have been either in chancery or in the provinces.

In 1634 he was Autumn Reader at Gray's Inn; in 1640 he was admitted to the degree of serjeant-at-law

Serjeant-at-law

The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...

. In October 1642, the king, being then at Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth

Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...

 on his way to London, appointed Bacon to a seat in the King's Bench

King's Bench

The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...

. Among the propositions tendered by parliament to the king in February 1643 were demands for the dismissal of several of the judges, but 'Mr. Justice Bacon may be continued '. While Charles was at Oxford, Bacon was one of the sworn judges still at Westminster, of which there were three, and presided alone in the King's Bench, as Edmund Reeve and Trevor did in the Common Pleas and Exchequer

At the trial of Connor Maguire, in Hilary term 1645, on the charge of high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

 for his share in the Irish Rebellion of 1641

Irish Rebellion of 1641

The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...

, Bacon was the only judge. Lord Maguire had demanded to be tried by a jury of Irish peers; Bacon delivered his judgment that a baron of Ireland could be tried by a jury in England, and this judgment was formally approved of by both houses.

He committed to prison James Symbal and others in 1647 'for speaking of words against the king in time of war', with Serjeant Cresheld. He continued to sit on the bench until 1649, when new commissions were issued to the judges, and they were required to take the oath in the name of the people instead of in the king's name. Bacon and five of his brethren resigned their seats, while the other six judges agreed to hold office. After his resignation Bacon lived in retirement until his death on 22 August 1657.