William Otto Adolph Julius Danckwerts

Who was William Otto Adolph Julius Danckwerts?

William Otto Adolph Julius Danckwerts KC was a noted British lawyer.

He was born Wilhelm Otto Adolf Julius in Heidelberg, Germany but emigrated to South Africa with his parents in 1857.

He was educated at the school of the Reverend Robert Templeton in the village of Bedford in the eastern Cape Colony, and then at Gill College. He entered Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1873, graduating with a B.A. in 1877. He studied law at the Inner Temple, was called to the bar in 1878, and became King's Counsel in January 1900.

Early in his career, he acted for the prosecution in the cause célèbre of R v Dudley and Stephens.

He was counsel to Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings, and junior counsel to the Inland Revenue from 1895 to 1900.

Although he rose to the top of his profession and earned a high income for his day, he never became a judge.