John Duke Coleridge (1824-1894)

John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge, was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal politician who eventually became Lord Chief Justice of England. In 1868 Prime Minister William Gladstone appointed him Solicitor-General. He subsequently held the positions of Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. In 1874 he was made a Baron. Coleridge was a supporter of women's suffrage and was the great nephew of the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

"The report in the Times which is the only one I have

looked at is thoroughly bad & I could have nothing to

do with it" 

There are two letters from John Duke Coleridge in the Sampson Low Collection. Both are written to Sampson Low in 1869 and both refer to the publication of a speech Coleridge made during the 1869 court case of Saurin vs Starr known as 'The Great Convent Case'. It was famous at the time as it involved a Catholic nun (Susan Saurin) sueing her Mother Superior (Mary Starr) and the convent for mistreatment. Saurin was subsequently awarded £500 in damages.

View John Duke Coleridge's letter [opens in a new window]

Image Rights: Hulton Archive / Stringer / Getty Images