James Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance

James Plaisted Wilde, 1st Baron Penzance (July 12, 1816 - December 9, 1899) was a British judge and amateur gardener who was a vociferous proponent of the theory that the works usually attributed to William Shakespeare were in fact authored by Francis Bacon.

The son of a lawyer, he was the nephew of Lord Chancellor Thomas Wilde, 1st Baron Truro. He became a successful lawyer himself and received a knighthood in 1860. In the same year he married Lady Mary Bouverie (1825-1900), daughter of William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor. The couple resided at Eashing Park, Godalming.

He presided over the Court of Probate and Divorce from 1863 until his retirement in 1872, being created a peer in 1869. However, in 1875 he accepted the post as Dean of Arches and presided over a number of notorious trials, notably, Bell Cox, Dale, Enraght, Green and Tooth, under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 arising out of the Ritualist controversy in the Church of England.

In 1866, he presided over "Hyde v. Hyde", a polygamy case. In his ruling, Lord Penzance stated:

"What, then, is the nature of this institution as understood in Christendom?...If it be of common acceptance and existence, it must needs have some pervading identity and universal basis. I conceive that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others."

which became the common-law definition of marriage throughout the British Empire (and successor states) for over a century. In Canada, this was overruled by an explicit statutory definition in the Civil Marriage Act 2005, which allowed for same-sex marriage.

At his garden in Godalming, from "rosa eglanteria" and "rosa foetida" he produced two new roses named Lady and Lord Penzance. He went on to produce a further 14 roses named for characters in the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

He argued that the works of Shakespeare are invariably accurate in matters of law and must, therefore, be the work of a scholar such as Bacon. Lord Penzance inspired others to examine the legal expertise used in Shakespeare, chiefly Sir George Greenwood M.P., who wrote "The Shakespeare Problem Revisited". A leading candidate for those who cannot accept Shakespeare as the author of the plays is now Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who attended Grays Inn.

Bibliography

*Wilde, J.P. (1902) "Lord Penzance on the Bacon-Shakespeare Controversy - A Judicial Summing-Up"
*Wilde, J.P. (ed.) M.H. Kinnear (1992) "Lord Penzance's Trial of Shakespeare: Verdict for Bacon" ISBN 1-85571-308-X

External links

* [http://www.rosegathering.com/penzance.html Rose fancier's page]
* [http://www.shackleford.org/eashing/epark.htm Description of Lord Penzance's home, Eashing Park] , from "Country Life" 1889