Thomas Townsend Bucknill
Encyclopedia
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(April 18, 1845 – October 4, 1915) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
judge of the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and Edwardian eras, a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and a Privy Councillor.
Biography
'Tommy' Bucknill was born at ExminsterExminster
Exminster is a village situated on the southern edge of the City of Exeter on the western side of the Exeter ship canal and River Exe in the county of Devon, England. It is around south of the centre of Exeter, and has a population of 3,084 . Exminster is an ancient village associated with a Saxon...
in 1845, the second son of Sir John Charles Bucknill
John Charles Bucknill
Sir John Charles Bucknill FRS English mental health reformer. Father of judge Sir Thomas Townsend Bucknill QC MP.-Biography:Bucknill was born in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, and educated at Rugby School and at University College, London...
FRS (1817-1897), a famous mental specialist who was knighted in 1894 in recognition of his services as one of the founders of the Volunteer Movement. Thomas Bucknill was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and afterwards at Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. He was called to the bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in 1868, became a QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1885, and a bencher of the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, 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 1891. From 1885 to 1899 he was Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
. He edited The Cunningham Reports and Sir S. Cook's Common Pleas Reports, and was a leading Counsel on the Admiralty Circuit and on the Western Circuit. He sat as the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Epsom and Ewell
Epsom and Ewell (UK Parliament constituency)
Epsom and Ewell is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
from 1892 to 1899, in which year he was raised to the bench, succeeding Sir Henry Hawkins
Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton
Henry Hawkins, 1st Baron Brampton PC, QC , known as Sir Henry Hawkins between 1876 and 1899, was an English judge. He served as a Judge of the High Court of Justice between 1876 and 1898.-Background and education:...
, and was knighted
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
. In 1914 he was appointed a Privy Councillor.
Bucknill was a prominent Freemason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, having been initiated in 1873 into Lodge of Good Report No.136 and becoming the Provincial Grand Master for Surrey from 1903 to 1915.
Among the notable cases tried before Bucknill was that in 1912 of poisoner
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
Frederick Seddon
Frederick Seddon
Frederick Henry Seddon was a British poisoner who was hanged in 1912 for murdering Eliza Mary Barrow.-Background:...
, who, on being found guilty of murder appealed directly to Bucknill as a brother Mason and in the name of 'The Great Architect Of The Universe
Great Architect of the Universe
The Great Architect of the Universe is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to neutrally represent whatever Supreme Being to which each member individually holds in adherence...
' to overturn the jury’s verdict. According to some sources he gave the First Degree sign, according to others the Sign of Grief and Distress, begging for mercy. Bucknill is reported as having said, with some emotion:
"It is not for me to harrow your feelings – try to make peace with your Maker. We both belong to the same Brotherhood, and though that can have no influence with me this is painful beyond words to have to say what I am saying, but our Brotherhood does not encourage crime, it condemns it."
Bucknill died at Epsom
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
on October 4, 1915.
He was the father of Sir Alfred Townsend Bucknill (1880-1963), also a High Court Judge and who became a Privy Councillor in 1945.
Portrayals
- In the 1981 tv series Lady Killers Christopher Banks played Bucknill in an episode entitled Root of All Evil.
External links
- http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sir_Thomas_Townsend_BucknillBucknill in the Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
] - http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E05E4DC1431E733A25755C1A9679C94689ED7CFBucknill in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
January 16 1899]