Charles Darling, 1st Baron Darling

"Little Darling"
Darling as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, July 1897

Charles Darling (1849-1936) was an English lawyer, politician and later a High Court judge. After being educated privately, he was called to the English Bar (Inner Temple) in 1874. He was appointed a QC in 1885, and was a Conservative Member of Parliament for Deptford from 1888 until 1897, when he was appointed a Judge of the Queen's Bench Division. As a judge, he presided over a number of important trials, including the Steine Morrison case (1911), that of 'Chicago May' Churchill and the trial for criminal libel of The Hon Noel Pemberton Billing MP (1918). He also sat on the criminal appeals of Dr Hawley Crippen and Sir Roger Casement, both of which he dismissed. He was known for his erudition and at times inappropriate wit, both on and off the bench, as well as for being impeccably dressed and riding to Court on a horse wearing a silk top hat and accompanied by a liveried groom.

He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1917. He retired from the bench in 1923, and was created Baron Darling in 1924. He was active in House of Lords debates on legal issues, including promoting the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929. He was married to Mary Wilberforce from 1884 until her death in 1913. They had two surviving daughters, Lucia and Diana.

References

• Smith, Derek Walter, "The Life of Charles Darling", Cassell & Co, London (1938).
• Simpson, A.W.B., "A Biographical Dictionary of the Common Law", Butterworths, London, 1984, p 143.
• Hoare, Philip, "Wilde's Last Stand", Duckworth Overlook, London 1997, 2011, pp 112-181, 217-218 (concerning the Pemberton Billing trial).
• Gilbert, Michael (ed), "The Oxford Book of Legal Anecdotes", OUP, Oxford, 1986, pp 91-97.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles Darling
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William John Evelyn	Member of Parliament for Deptford 1888 – 1897	Succeeded by Arthur Henry Aylmer Morton
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Darling 1924 – 1936	Succeeded by Robert Charles Henry Darling