John Barnard Byles

Sir John Barnard Byles (11 January 1801 – 3 February 1884^[1]) was a British barrister, judge and author of books on law and the economy. He published an influential text on bills of exchange in 1829, commonly referred to as "Byles on Bills".^[2]

Early life

Byles was the a grandson of Mr Jeremiah Byles (1733-1790), a timber-merchant from Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.

Career

Byles studied law and became a member of the Inner Temple, where he was a pupil of the renowned Joseph Chitty, and became a special pleader.^[3] In 1829 he published a seminal work on bills of exchange, A Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bank-Notes, and Cheques, which is commonly referred to as Byles on Bills. He is even said to have named his horse "Bills", so that when approaching, people would utter "Here comes Byles on Bills".^[2] He was called to the Bar in November 1831. He joined the Norfolk circuit and in 1840 he was appointed recorder of Buckingham, and then in 1843 became a Serjeant-at-law. In 1857 he was appointed Queen's Serjeant.^[3]

Byles once ran as a candidate for Parliament in the Aylesbury constituency, but lost.

In January 1858 he was promoted to the bench and was later made a Knight Bachelor and Justice of the Common Pleas. He often oversaw cases at the Central Criminal Court in London. He was described by the contemporary press as being a judge of the "old school", reminiscent of lawyers from Elizabethan times in his predilection for employing old-fashioned sayings and "saws".^[4] He was also a stickler for proper (black) clothing in court, once remarking to Lord Coleridge "I always listen with little pleasure to the arguments of counsel whose legs are encased in light gray trousers".^[5] In January 1873 he resigned as a judge due to his failing health. He then became, on 3 March, a member of the Privy Council but he died soon after on 3 February 1884, aged eighty-two.^[3] He resided in Hatfield House, Uxbridge.

Personal life

Byles married Hannah Foster in Aug 1828 the daughter of John Foster a merchant of Biggleswade, but she died shortly after the marriage. He married in Aug 1836 Emma Nash Wedd the daughter of Mr Joseph Pattisson Wedd, a solicitor of Royston, but she died in July 1872. Of their children, the eldest son, Walter Barnard, was called to the Bar in 1865 and the second eldest, Maurice Barnard, was called in 1866.^[3]

Notable cases

• Daniel Good - sentenced to death for murder in 1842. Before his trial, he escaped from custody and the ensuing chase caused the police to set up the Detective Branch for pursuing criminals on the run.^[6]
• James Bloomfield Rush - sentenced to death for the murder of Isaac Jermy, the Recorder of Norwich, and his son Isaac Jermy Jermy in 1849.^[7]
• Catherine Wilson - found guilty of poisoning in 1862. Byles said to the defence lawyer, Montagu Williams, Q.C., directly after the trial ended: "I sent for you to tell you that you did that case remarkably well. But it was no good; the facts were too strong. I prosecuted Rush for the murder of Mr. Jermy, I defended Daniel Good, and I defended several other notable criminals when I was on the Norfolk Circuit; but, if it will be of any satisfaction to you, I may tell you that in my opinion you have to-day defended the greatest criminal that ever lived."^[8]
• William Roupell - found guilty of fraud in 1862
• Frances Kidder - found guilty of murder in 1868
• Rev. John Selby Watson - classical translator who killed his wife. Sentenced to death in 1872 but later commuted to life in prison^[9]

Books

• A Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bank-Notes, and Cheques, 1829
• On the Usury Laws, 1846
• Sophisms Of Free-Trade And Popular Political Economy Examined, 1849.
• Foundations of Religion in the Mind and Heart of Man, 1875

References

External links

• Biography
• Sophisms of Free-Trade - full text