Lawrance, John Compton – A most unpopular judge

John Compton Lawrance (1832 –1912)

The son of Thomas Munton Lawrance, of Dunsby Hall, and his wife Louisa Compton, was educated at Grantham Kings School.

He was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1859, and became a QC in 1877.

He became Recorder of Derby in 1879 and was a JP for Lincolnshire.

In 1878 Lawrance stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at a by-election in Peterborough, but at the 1880 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Lincolnshire.

That constituency was abolished under Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and at the 1885 General Election Lawrance was elected MP for Stamford.

He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Lincolnshire in September 1886.

Lawrence became a High Court Judge in 1890 and was also appointed as one of the Judges for the trial of election petitions.

His appointment to the High Court had been greeted with ‘hoots of derision’ and that the Law Times wrote “This is a bad appointment, for although a popular man and a thorough English gentleman, Mr. Lawrance has no reputation as a lawyer, and has been rarely seen of recent years in the Royal Courts of Justice”.

Lawrance’s tardiness in giving judgements led to his nickname of ‘Long’ Lawrance, Toulson observing that: “the shameful way in which commercial disputes were being dealt with – or not dealt with – by hopelessly bad judges, especially Lawrance, was causing serious damage to the City of London and its commercial reputation”.

Lawrance who married Charlotte Georgina Smart in 1861, lived at Dunsby Hall, and died there at the age of 80.