Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth
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Robert Monsey Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth PC (18 December 1790-26 July 1868), was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He twice served as Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom
Born at Cranworth, Norfolk, he was the elder son of the Reverend Edward Rolfe. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds, Winchester, and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar, Lincoln's Inn, in 1816. He represented Penryn and Falmouth in Parliament from 1832 until he was appointed a Baron of the Exchequer in 1839. In 1850 he was appointed a Vice-Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Baron Cranworth, of Cranworth in the County of Norfolk. In 1852 Lord Cranworth became Lord Chancellor in Lord Aberdeen's coalition ministry. He continued to hold the chancellorship also in the administration of Lord Palmerston until the latter's resignation in 1858.
Cranworth was not reappointed when Palmerston returned to office in 1859, but on the retirement of Lord Westbury in 1865 he accepted the office for a second time, and held it till the fall of the Russell administration in 1866. Cranworth died in London on 26 July 1868. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death.
9 days before his death, he gave judgment in the case of Rylands v Fletcher, one of the most famous cases in English legal history.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Freshfield Charles Stewart (for Penryn) |
Member of Parliament for Penryn and Falmouth 1832–1840 |
Succeeded by Edward Hutchins |
| Legal Offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Charles Pepys |
Solicitor General 1834 |
Succeeded by Sir William Follett |
| Preceded by Sir William Follett |
Solicitor General 1835–1839 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Wilde |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Lord St Leonards |
Lord Chancellor 1852–1858 |
Succeeded by The Lord Chelmsford |
| Preceded by The Lord Westbury |
Lord Chancellor 1865–1866 |
Succeeded by The Lord Chelmsford |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Baron Cranworth 1850–1868 |
Succeeded by Extinct |
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
