John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly

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John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly (20 January 1802 – 23 December 1874), English judge, was the second son of Sir Samuel Romilly.

Born in London, he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1827. He first entered Parliament in 1832 as member for Bridport (holdimng the seat from 1832-1835 and 1846-1847), and in 1843 he became a Queen's Counsel.

He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Devonport in 1847, and was appointed solicitor-general in 1848 in Lord John Russell's administration and attorney-general in 1850. In 1851 he was appointed Master of the Rolls, and continued to sit for Devonport till the general election in 1852, when he was defeated. He was the last master of the rolls to sit in Parliament.

Romilly was raised to the peerage as Baron Romilly of Barry in 1866, and retired from the mastership of the rolls in 1873. He did much to remove the restrictions which had long hampered research among the public records and state papers. Lord Romilly died in London on the 23 December 1874.

His brother Frederick Romilly (born March 22, 1810 died London April 6, 1887) sat as Liberal MP for Canterbury between March 1850 and the general election of 1852.

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.