Himself the son of a QC, he became Lord Chief Justice in Oct 1900. His practice as a QC was chiefly in commercial, railway and patent cases – an ideal basis for the human subtleties of a libel prosecution. He had become MP for Launceston in Jul 1885, and just four months later had exchanged this seat for the Isle of Wight, which he continued to represent until his elevation to the House of Lords. So not an opportunist, then.

A man of many sporting interests and accomplishments, he was personally popular but was not considered an outstanding judge; one colleague wrote after his death that "the reports will be searched in vain for judgments of his that are valuable".