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| Sir William Follett | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sir William Webb Follett |
| Birth date | 5 March 1796 |
| Death date | 20 August 1845 |
| Birth place | Exeter, Devon |
| Occupation | Barrister, Politician |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Leading advocate, Solicitor General (briefly), influential common law advocate |
Sir William Follett was a preeminent English barrister and Conservative politician of the early Victorian era renowned for his forensic skill, rhetorical power, and influence on 19th‑century practice at the Bar of England and Wales. He combined a flourishing private practice with representation in the House of Commons and held high legal office before his premature death, leaving a lasting imprint on advocacy, criminal and civil procedure, and parliamentary debate.
Born in Exeter in 1796 to a family connected with Devon, Follett was the son of a solicitor and received formative schooling in Plymouth and preparatory academies of the period. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge where he read for the law during the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars and the post‑War of 1812 political settlement. While at Cambridge University he formed friendships with contemporaries active in Whig and Tory circles, and he became associated with the intellectual milieu that included future members of the Privy Council and leading judges of the Court of King's Bench. His Cambridge training preceded formal legal instruction at an Inn of Court, the customary path to call to the Bar of England and Wales.
Called to the bar at Middle Temple in the 1820s, Follett developed a practice on the western circuit and at the central common law courts in London, notably the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of King's Bench. His eloquence and mastery of pleadings propelled him to be appointed King's Counsel and leader of the western circuit. He became a dominant figure in criminal and civil causes, appearing before chief justices such as Sir James Scarlett and judges of the Court of Exchequer. His ascendancy paralleled reforms and debates involving the Judicature and procedural practice that occupied Victorian legal minds like Edward Sugden and Lord Brougham. Follett's reputation attracted clientage from landed gentry, merchants of London and Bristol, and litigants across England and Wales.
Follett entered the House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament for constituencies including representation for Bodmin and later Dunwich during contests influenced by the aftermath of the Reform Act 1832 and ongoing electoral adjustments. In Parliament he spoke on legal reform, criminal justice, and contested bills affecting common law procedure, engaging with leading parliamentary figures such as Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, and Benjamin Disraeli in debates over ministerial policy and statutory change. Appointed Solicitor‑General in a Conservative administration, his tenure intersected with issues addressed by the Home Office and the administration of criminal law during the period of the Chartist agitation and social unrest. Follett's parliamentary interventions reflected the concerns of the Tory bench and influenced contemporaneous legislation and legal opinion.
Follett's courtroom triumphs include celebrated appearances in high‑profile prosecutions and civil causes brought before appellate courts and common law assizes. He argued in matters that touched on property law, commercial disputes arising from Liverpool and Bristol trade, and celebrated criminal trials that engaged public attention analogous to cases handled by contemporaries like Thomas Noon Talfourd and Edward Hall Alderson. His advocacy style, incisive cross‑examination, and capacity to marshal precedent earned praise from bench and bar; judges such as Lord Chief Justice Tindal and members of the Judicial Committee acknowledged his skill. Follett contributed to the development of counsel's pleading technique and oral advocacy, influencing subsequent generations of barristers including those who later became Law Lords and members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Legal periodicals and reports of the time record his argumentation as shaping aspects of evidentiary approach and jury address practice.
Follett married into families prominent in Devon and Somerset society; his household combined legal, mercantile, and landed connections common among senior advocates of the age. He fathered children who continued to engage with professional life in law, the Church of England, and Imperial service, reflecting familial links to institutions such as Eton College and university colleges across Oxford and Cambridge. His social circle included legal luminaries, members of the London bar, and parliamentarians from constituencies in Cornwall and the West Country, and he frequently attended gatherings at clubs associated with the legal profession and parliamentary life.
Sir William Follett died suddenly in 1845 at the height of his professional powers, provoking obituaries in leading newspapers and legal journals of London and provincial presses. His death elicited tributes from judges, colleagues, and Members of Parliament including remarks in the House of Commons and at commemorations attended by peers of the Bar of England and Wales and representatives of the Solicitor General's office. Memorials to his life and work were included in contemporary biographical compendia and law reports; his legacy persisted in the evolution of advocacy celebrated by later jurists and historians of the Common Law.
Category:1796 births Category:1845 deaths Category:Members of Parliament for English constituencies Category:English barristers Category:People from Exeter