seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Temperance Movement


by Leave a comment

Birth of James Charles Mathew, Irish-Born Judge

James Charles Mathew, Irish-born judge renowned for founding the Commercial Court in England and for his transformative contributions to legal procedure and commercial law, is born on July 10, 1830, at Lehenagh House, Cork, County Cork.

Mathew’s family spends time abroad while his father manages business interests. He comes from a Roman Catholic family. His uncle is Theobald Mathew, the famous temperance campaigner. At the age of fifteen, he enters Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where he excels as a gold medalist and senior moderator, graduating in 1850. He then studies law at Lincoln’s Inn, London, and is called to the English Bar in 1851, building a strong foundation for a legal career despite a slow start at the junior bar.

Initially, Mathew’s legal career progresses slowly, though he is active in debating as a founding member of the Hardwicke Society. He handles numerous jury cases at the Guildhall sittings in London, where he gains experience in commercial law. He becomes treasury counsel during the Tichborne Claimant prosecution in 1873, noted for his composed handling of arguments without quarrel with opposing counsel. Despite opportunities, he refrains from applying for Queen’s Counsel due to a naturally weak voice, though his legal acumen and advocacy are highly respected.

In March 1881, Mathew is appointed to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and is knighted. He becomes known for his keen judgment, practical approach to legal issues, and eventual standing as one of the best nisi prius judges of his time. In 1895, he persuades fellow judges to establish a Commercial List, the precursor to today’s Commercial Court, and serves as the first judge presiding over it. He advances efficiency in commercial law by minimizing procedural delays, focusing on substantive issues, and producing concise judgments that inspire confidence in the mercantile community.

Mathew also chairs a 1892 royal commission on the evicted tenants in Ireland, despite challenges and disputes with landlords and Edward Carson. His recommendations influence the Wyndham Land Purchase Act (1903). In 1901, he is appointed to the Court of Appeal and continues to emphasize clarity and practicality in legal proceedings until a stroke in 1905 forces his resignation.

Mathew marries Elizabeth Biron in December 1861, with whom he has two sons and three daughters. His family includes notable figures, such as his daughter Elizabeth, who marries Irish MP John Dillon, and his grandson, James Matthew Dillon, a later politician. He has a deep cultural appreciation, enjoying music and literature, and maintains friendships across religious and political divides.

Mathew dies on November 9, 1908, at his London home, aged 78. He is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. His legacy is most strongly associated with founding the Commercial Court, reforming commercial law procedures, and demonstrating a balanced mixture of legal rigor and practical common sense that influenced generations of judges and barristers. His contributions remain a cornerstone in the evolution of modern English and Welsh commercial law.


by Leave a comment

Birth of Frederick William Hall, Victoria Cross Recipient

Frederick William Hall, VC, a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, is born in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, on February 21, 1885.

Hall’s father is a British Army soldier from London. Hall emigrates to Canada approximately 1910, and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Hall is working as a clerk in Winnipeg when World War I starts. He enlists in the 8th Canadian Infantry Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles) at Valcartier Camp, Quebec, on September 26, 1914. He already has military experience. In addition to serving in the 106th Winnipeg Light Infantry of the Canadian Militia, he spends over 12 years in the British Army’s Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He sees service in India and is awarded the Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. A teetotaller, He is a member of the British Army’s Temperance Association while with the Cameronians.

Hall is 30 years old, and a company sergeant major in the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), Canadian Expeditionary Force, during World War I when he performs a deed for which he is awarded the Victoria Cross. The citation in The London Gazette reads: 

“No. 1539 Colour Serjeant Frederick William Hall, 8th Canadian Battalion. On 24th April, 1915, in the neighbourhood of Ypres, when a wounded man who was lying some 15 yards from the trench called for help, Company Serjeant Major Hall endeavoured to reach him in the face of a very heavy enfilade fire which was being poured in by the enemy. The first attempt failed, and a Non-commissioned Officer and private soldier who were attempting to give assistance were both wounded. Company Serjeant Major Hall then made a second most gallant attempt, and was in the act of lifting up the wounded man to bring him in when he fell mortally wounded in the head.”

During the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, Hall discovers a number of men are missing. On the ridge above he can hear moans from the wounded men. Under cover of darkness, he goes to the top of the ridge on two separate occasions and returns each time with a wounded man.

By nine o’clock on the morning of April 24 there are still men missing. In full daylight and under sustained and intense enemy fire, Hall, Corporal Payne and Private Rogerson crawl out toward the wounded. Payne and Rogerson are both wounded, but return to the shelter of the front line. When a wounded man who is lying some 15 yards from the trench calls for help, Hall endeavours to reach him in the face of heavy fire by the enemy but is shot in the head. The soldier he was attempting to help, Private Arthur Edwin Clarkson, is also killed.

Hall has no known grave. His name is on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, honouring 56,000 troops from Britain, Australia, Canada and India whose final resting place in the Ypres Salient is unknown. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that he is the son of Mary Hall, of Leytonstone, London, and the late Bombardier F. Hall.

Hall lives on Pine Street in Winnipeg. In 1925, Pine Street is renamed Valour Road because three Victoria Cross recipients resided on the same 700 block of that street: Hall, Leo Clarke and Robert Shankland. It is believed to be the only street in the Commonwealth of Nations to have three Victoria Cross recipients live on it. A bronze plaque is mounted on a street lamp at the corner of Portage Avenue and Valour Road to tell the tale of the three men.

Hill is also remembered in St. Helens, Merseyside, where he lives at the time of the 1891 United Kingdom census and uses as his home address until he leaves for Canada in 1910.

Hill’s medals are in the Canadian War Museum. The museum has acquired all three Valour Road Victoria Cross medals and they are on permanent display in Ottawa.