Frank Lockwood (politician)

Sir Frank Lockwood QC
Frank Lockwood c.1890
Member of Parliament forYork
In office 18 December 1885 – 18 December 1897 Serving withAlfred Pease(1885-1892) John Butcher(1892-1897)
Preceded by	Frederick Milner Ralph Creyke
Succeeded by	John Butcher Charles Beresford
Personal details
Born	(1846-07-15)15 July 1846 Doncaster,Yorkshire,England
Died	18 December 1897(1897-12-18)(aged 51) London,County of London,England
Political party	Liberal

"York". Caricature bySpypublished inVanity Fairin 1887.

Sir Frank Lockwood,QC(15 July 1846 – 18 December 1897) was anEnglishlawyerandLiberal Partypolitician who sat in theHouse of Commonsas MP forCity of Yorkfrom 1885 to 1897.

Life

Lockwood was born inDoncaster,the son of Charles Day Lockwood. His great-grandfather Joseph Lockwood (c. 1758-1837) was twice mayor of Doncaster, and his grandfather was for many years judge on the racecourse.Lockwood was educated at a private school, atManchester Grammar School,andCaius College, Cambridge.

Lockwood was called to the bar atLincoln's Innin 1872, and joined the old midland circuit, afterwards going to the north-eastern, making in his first year 120 guineas and in the next 265 guineas. From that time he had a career of uninterrupted success,a high-profile brief being the defence of the murdererCharles Peacein 1879. In 1880 he was a member of a Royal Commission to enquire into Corrupt Practices at Chester. He was made aQueen's Counselin 1882 and in 1884 he was made recorder of Sheffield.

Lockwood made two unsuccessful attempts to enter parliament, the one atKing's Lynnat the1880 general election,the other atYorkatby-election in 1883.He was elected LiberalMember of Parliament(MP) for York at the1885 general electionand held the seat until his death in 1897.In 1894 he becamesolicitor-generalinLord Rosebery's ministry, and was knighted. He was solicitor-general for less than a year.During this period he prosecuted the murdererJames Canham Read.

In May 1895 Lockwood was lead counsel for the prosecution in Regina v. Oscar Wilde. The Liberal government seemed determined to get a successful prosecution. Edward Carson, who had successfully defended the Marquess of Queensbury against Wilde's misguided criminal libel, approached Frank Lockwood and asked "Can we not let up on the fellow now?". Lockwood answered that he would like to do so, but feared that the case had become too politicised to be dropped.

In 1896 Lockwood accompaniedLord Chief Justice Russelland barrister Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe to theUnited Statesto attend the nineteenth meeting of theAmerican Bar Associationas specially invited representatives of the English bar. On the trip he sustained the reputation which he enjoyed in England as a humorousafter-dinner speaker,and helped to strengthen the bond of friendship between the bench and bar of the United States and the bench and bar of England.

Lockwood's uncleHenry Francis Lockwoodwas an architect and his father a talented draughtsman. Lockwood also had a skill at drawing, which he used to amuse himself and his friends, by making caricatures in pen and ink, and sketches of humorous incidents, real or imaginary, relating to the topic nearest at hand.He illustrated C. J. Darling'sScintillae Jurisin 1889 and contributed toPunchfrom 1893 to 1897. An exhibition of his work was held in London in March 1889. He was also author ofThe Law and Lawyers of Pickwickpublished in 1894.

Lockwood lived at Cober Hill,Cloughton,nearScarborough, North Yorkshire.He died inLondonat the age of 51.

Lockwood married Julia Rosetta Salis Schwabe, daughter of Salis andJulia Schwabeof Manchester and Glyn-y-Garth, Anglesey, on 3 September 1874. His wife was the sister of fellow MPGeorge Salis-Schwabeand the daughter of the educationalistJulia Schwabe.

Lockwood was the brother-in-law of the 21stMacLean of Lochbuieand there is a small island off the coast ofMullin Scotland nearLochbuienamed after him.

References

• SeeAugustine Birrell's biography of Lockwood andThe Frank Lockwood Sketch-Book(1898).
• Entry inOxford Dictionary of National Biographyby Augustine Birrell revised by H C G Matthew, OUP 2004-8
• Baird, Bob (1995)Shipwrecks of the West of Scotland.Glasgow. Nekton Books.ISBN1-897995-02-4

External links

Media related toFrank Lockwood (politician)at Wikimedia Commons

• Works by Frank LockwoodatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Frank LockwoodatInternet Archive
• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Frank Lockwood