William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

William Baliol Brett, 1st Viscount Esher, PC, QC (* August 13, 1815, † May 24 1899 in London) was a British lawyer, judge and politician of the Conservative Party.

Family and Education

Brett was born in 1815 as son of the pastor Joseph George Brett from Chelsea and his wife Dorothy Best. He had seven siblings, five brothers and two sisters. On 3 April 1850 he married Eugenie Mayer with whom he had two sons and a daughter. His education was board at Westminster School, King's College London and at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. There he was a member of the Cambridge University Boat Club and won with his team the 1839 Boat Race against the team from the University of Oxford. In 1840 he completed his studies with a Master of Arts.

Professional career

Political commitment

That same year, Brett was admitted as a barrister. In 1861 he was appointed Queen's Counsel. After the death of Richard Cobden Brett joined in 1865 as a candidate of the Conservative Party for the general election in the constituency of Rochdale, losing to Thomas Bayley Potter. In a by-election in 1866, he sent for the constituency of Helston under strange circumstances in the House of Commons. Both candidates united initially exactly the same number of electoral votes. After the returning officer had cast his vote, board opponents was declared with one voice projection for the winner. In reviewing the electoral process, however, the House noted that the voice of the Returning Officer was dispensed after the election, and determined that both candidates should move into the House of Commons. 1868 Brett was knighted and appointed by the Solicitor General Benjamin Disraeli. However, he had held only a little more than eight months in this office. During this time he represented the charges against the leaders of the Fenian uprising of 1867.

Activity as a judge

In the August 1868 board was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In this position, he saw himself, because of the harsh punishments he imposed, under intense criticism. Nevertheless, in 1876 he was promoted to the post of judge at the Court of Appeal. At the same time Brett was a member of the Privy Council. In 1883 he followed George Jessel in the position of Master of the Rolls. Linked to this was the elevation to the peerage as Baron Esher, Esher in the County of of Surrey. In this position, he was instrumental in the development of case law and legislation. He supported a law that would strengthen the rights of the British bar associations and worked to ensure that members of the House of Lords, even after they had reached retirement age, were allowed to attend meetings and vote. End of 1897, Brett to retire. For his services he was appointed by Queen Victoria to Viscount Esher, Esher in the County of Surrey of appointed.

Later years

Brett died in London in 1899. The title of Viscount Esher went over to his eldest son, Reginald.