James Bacon

Who was James Bacon?

Sir James Bacon was a British bankruptcy judge and a vice-chancellor of the Court of Chancery, and a member of the Privy Council.

Bacon was born at 10 The Polygon, Somers Town, London. His father had come there from Holt, Norfolk, to work as an attorney's clerk in Clerkenwell. Bacon received part of his early education in Holt. He left school at twelve and worked for some years in the same attorney's firm, Rhodes and Cook, as he relates in his unpublished memoirs.

In 1822 he joined Gray's Inn and was called to the bar in 1827. As an impecunious young barrister he engaged in much literary work, such as translations from the French and a pseudonymous “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Byron” which breached copyright outrageously. John Murray decided not to sue because copyright in works of doubtful moral character had become precarious following the case of William Lawrence. This work was illustrated by George Cruikshank and Bacon knew him and many literary and artistic personalities, including Charles Lamb and Mary Shelley.

He joined Lincoln's Inn in 1833 and became a bencher in 1846 soon after becoming a QC. In 1859 he became under-secretary to the Master of the Rolls.