Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 49.djvu/165

 seventeenth wrangler in 1812, and gained one of the members' prizes for senior bachelors in 1814. He graduated B.A. in 1812, M.A. in 1815, and was elected a fellow of Downing College. Rolfe was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 29 Jan. 1812, and was called to the bar on 21 May 1816. His progress as a junior was slow; but he gradually acquired a large business in the chancery courts. At the general election in the spring of 1831 he unsuccessfully contested Bury St. Edmunds in the whig interest. He was appointed a king's counsel in Trinity vacation 1832, and was called within the bar on the first day of the following Michaelmas term. He was elected a bencher of Lincoln's Inn on 2 Nov. 1832, but left the society on 11 Nov. 1839, when he became a serjeant-at-law. At the general election in December 1832 he was returned to the House of Commons for Penryn and Falmouth, and continued to represent that constituency until his appointment to the judicial bench. He spoke for the first time in the House of Commons on 19 March 1833 (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. xvi. 847–9), but he seldom took part in the debates. Rolfe was appointed solicitor-general in Lord Melbourne's first administration on 6 Nov. 1834, and resigned office in the following month, on Sir Robert Peel's accession to power. On the return of the whigs to office, in April 1835, Rolfe was restored to the post of solicitor-general, and received the honour of knighthood on 6 May following. He was appointed a baron of the exchequer in the place of Sir William Henry Maule [q. v.], and, having received the order of the coif, took his seat on the bench on 11 Nov. 1839. Though Rolfe had only practised in the court of chancery, he had acquired experience in criminal cases while sitting as recorder of Bury St. Edmunds, a post which he had held for some years. With Abinger and Williams he took part in the trial of John William Bean for shooting at the queen in August 1842 (Reports of State Trials, new ser. iv. 1382–6). In March 1843 he presided at the trial of Feargus O'Connor and fifty-eight other chartists for seditious conspiracy (ib. iv. 935–1231). In March 1849 he presided at the trial of Rush for the murder of Isaac Jermy [q. v.] and his son. He acted as a commissioner of the great seal from 19 June 1850 to 15 July following, his colleagues being Lord Langdale and Vice-chancellor Shadwell. Owing to Shadwell's illness nothing but the routine business could be done, and the long arrears of appeals arising from Cottenham's absence remained untouched (Life of John, Lord Campbell, 1861, ii. 281). On 2 Nov. 1850 Rolfe was appointed a vice-chancellor in the room of Shadwell, and on the 13th of the same month was admitted to the privy council. He was created Baron Cranworth of Cranworth in the county of Norfolk on 20 Dec. 1850, and took his seat in the House of Lords at the opening of parliament on 4 Feb. 1851 (Journals of the House of Lords, lxxxiii. 4). He made his maiden speech in the house during the discussion of Brougham's County Courts Extension Bill on 7 Feb. 1851 (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. cxiv. 178–9). When the court of appeal in chancery was created under the provisions of 14 & 15 Vict. cap. 83, Cranworth and Knight Bruce were appointed the first lords justices (8 Oct. 1851).

On the formation of Lord Aberdeen's cabinet in December 1852, Cranworth was promoted to the post of lord chancellor. The great seal was delivered to him on the 28th, and he took his seat on the woolsack as speaker of the House of Lords on 10 Feb. 1853 (Journals of the House of Lords, lxxxv. 65). Four days afterwards he introduced a bill for the registration of assurances. At the same time he announced the intention of the government to deal with the question of the consolidation and simplification of the statute law, and was bold enough to hold out some hope that the proposed step would lead to the formation of a Code Victoria (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. cxxiv. 41–6). A small board was nominated by Cranworth to consolidate the statutes under the superintendence of Charles Henry Bellenden Ker [q. v.] In the following year this board was replaced by a royal commission, over which Cranworth himself presided (see Parl. Papers, 1854 vol. xxiv., 1854–5 vol. xv.). The result of their deliberations led ultimately to the successive statute law revision acts passed during the chancellorships of Lords Campbell, Westbury, and Chelmsford. Though the Registration Bill passed through the House of Lords in spite of the strenuous opposition of Lord St. Leonards, it was dropped in the House of Commons. Cranworth was more successful with his bill for the better administration of charitable trusts, which became law during the session (16 & 17 Vict. cap. 137). On 11 July 1853 he moved the second reading of the Transportation Bill (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. cxxix. 7–13). This bill, which substituted penal servitude in lieu of transportation and adopted the ticket-of-leave system, passed through both houses with but little opposition, and received the royal assent on 20 Aug. 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. cap. 99). In the session of 1854 Cranworth carried through the house a bill for the further amendment of the