John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton, GBE KCB QC PC FRAS FRS (18 November 1844–9 March 1921) was an English mathematician, barrister and judge.
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He was born in Madeley, Shropshire, England as one of six children of a scholarly minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, James Egan Moulton. He was sent to Kingswood School at the age of 11 where he excelled at academic subjects. He achieved the top marks in the Oxford and Cambridge Local Examinations and achieved a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, graduating Senior Wrangler in 1868 and winning the Smith's Prize.[1] He was at one point judged to be one of the twelve most intelligent men in the United Kingdom.
A Fellow of the Royal Society, Moulton was a great advocate for medical research as well as being a practising London barrister. He was awarded the French Legion of Honour for his work in establishing international co-operation in terms of the measurement of electrical quantities.
Moulton became a Liberal Party Member of Parliament backing Gladstone attempts to solve difficulties in Ireland through Irish Home Rule. In 1906 Moulton was made Lord Justice on the Court of Appeal and Privy Counsellor. In 1912 he entered the House of Lords with a life peerage and the title Baron Moulton, of Bank in the County of Hampshire.
However it was with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 that saw Lord Moulton achieve his greatest success. In 1914 he became chairman of a committee to advise on the supply of explosives and this soon became an integral part of the British war effort with Moulton eventually becoming Director-General of the Explosives Department. In 1917 Moulton was given the task of producing poisonous gasses. Although loyal to orders, Moulton often reflected that he believed such a mode of conflict to be a departure from civilised warfare.
Lord Moulton worked a ten-hour day and took less than ten days holiday throughout the entire four years of the war. He also personally visited every munitions factory. He was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, the Etoile Noir of France, the Order of Leopold (Belgium) and was the last person to receive the Order of the White Eagle before the collapse of the Russian monarchy.
Moulton held also correspondence with Charles Darwin. [2]
He died in London on 9 March 1921.[3] He was the father of Hugh Moulton.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Clapham 1885 – 1886 |
Succeeded by John Saunders Gilliat |
| Preceded by Sir Charles Russell |
Member of Parliament for Hackney South 1894–1895 |
Succeeded by Thomas Herbert Robertson |
| Preceded by Thomas Owen |
Member of Parliament for Launceston 1898–1906 |
Succeeded by Sir George Croydon Marks |