SIR
JOHN BARNARD BYLES (1801-1884), Barrister, Judge,
Author, was eldest son of Mr. Jeremiah Byles,
timber-merchant, of Stowmarket in Suffolk, by his
wife, the only daughter of William Barnard, of Holts
in Essex. He was born at Stowmarket in 1801. He became
a member of the Inner Temple and, after reading as a
pupil in the chambers of Chitty, the great pleader,
and for a time practicing as a special pleader
himself, at 1 Garden Court, Temple, was called to the
Bar in November 1831.
He joined the Norfolk circuit and attended sessions in
that county. In 1840 he was appointed recorder of
Buckingham, and in 1843 was raised to the degree of
Serjeant-at-law. When in 1846 the court of common
pleas was opened to all the members of the bar,
John Barnard Byles received a Patent of Precedence in
all courts.
He rapidly acquired a large and leading practice both
on his own circuit, which he led for many years after
Sir Fitzroy Kelly became Solicitor-general, and also
in London.
About 1855 Sir Barnard Byles resigned his
recordership, and in 1857 he was appointed Queen's
Serjeant, along with Serjeants Shee and Wrangham. This
was the last appointment of Queen's Serjeants (see
PULLING, Order of the Coif, 41, 182).
Though he never sat in parliament, he was always a
strong and old-fashioned conservative. He was once a
candidate for Aylesbury, but being a rigid unitarian,
and constant attendant at a Unitarian chapel, was
unacceptable to the church party. Nevertheless he was
selected by Lord Cranworth in January 1858, though of
opposite politics, for promotion to the bench, and
when Sir Cresswell retired, he was made a Knight
and Justice of the Common Pleas.
He proved a very strong judge, courteous, genial and
humorous, and of especial learning in mercantile
affairs; he was one of the judges who won for the
court of common pleas its high repute and popularity
among commercial litigants. Nevertheless, both as an
advocate and a judge his mind was marked by a defect
singular in one of his indubitable ability.
He displayed a serious want of readiness in his
perception of the facts of a case. What, however, he
lacked in rapidity of mind, he made up for by extreme
accuracy. He was an expert shorthand writer.
In January 1873 failure of health and memory and
inability any longer to sustain the labour of going to
circuit compelled him to resign his judgeship. He
received a pension, and along with Baron Channell
became, on 3 March, a member of the Privy Council, and
for some time, when his presence was required, he
continued to attend the sittings of the judicial
committee. He continued to reside at Hanfield
House, I Uxbridge, where and in London he was a
well-known figure on his old white horse, and was
occupied largely with literary interests until his
death, which occurred on 3 Feb. 1884, in his
eighty-third year.
In the course of his lifetime he published a
considerable number of works. Before he was called he
delivered a series of lectures on commercial law in
the hall of Lyon's Inn, and the first of these,
delivered 3 November 1829, he published at the request
and risk of friends, and without alteration, under the
title of ' A Discourse on the Present State of the
Law of England '.
About the same time he published " A Practical
Compendium of the Law of Bills of Exchange " which
has since become the standard work on this branch of
law, and has reached over twenty-six editions. The
sixth edition he dedicated to Baron Parke, and in the
preparation of the ninth he was assisted by his son
Maurice.
During the long vacation of 1845, while absent from
London he composed a pamphlet called ' Observations
on the Usury Laws, with, suggestions for Amendment and
a Draft Bill " which he published in the October
following.
A keen protectionist, in 1849 he wrote a work called
"Sophisms of Free Trade " which at once ran
through eight editions, and was reprinted by his
permission, but without his name, in 1870, with his
notes brought up to date, by the Manchester
Reciprocity Association. The book expressly disclaims
party motives and displays considerable and wide
reading.
In 1875, after his retirement, he published 'Foundations
of Religion in the Mind and Heart of Man.' It is
non controversial and didactic, and was written at
different times and at considerable intervals.
He was twice married, first in 1828 to a daughter of
Mr. John Foster, of Biggleswade, who died very shortly
after the marriage; second in 1836 to a daughter of
Mr. James Webb, of Royston, who died in 1872. He had
several children ; the eldest son, Walter Barnard, was
called to the Bar in 1865, the second, Maurice
Barnard, in 1866, and was for some years a revising
barrister.
Below is a letter written by Sir John on the
6th. January 1854 to a publisher in New York. (
Original held by Alan Byles as of April 2005)
[Foss's Lives of the Judges; Davy's
Athena Suifolcienses, iv. 35 ; Davy's Suffolk
Collections; Add. MS. 19121, pp. 351-2; Men of the
Time, ed. 1879; Law Journal, viii.. 33; Solicitors'
Journal, 9 Feb. 1834; Serjeaut Ballantine's
Reminiscences, p. 190.]
Books Currently Available:
Sophisms Of Free-Trade And Popular Political
Economy Examined
By SIR JOHN BARNARD BYLES, Bookseller: De Wolfe &
Wood
(Alfred, ME, U.S.A.)Price: £ 10.79 Book Description:
Philadelphia, Pa: Henry Carey Baird, 1872. Fair;
ex-library copy (bookplate, etc.); covers loose. 291.
1st Amer. edition. Bookseller Inventory #BOOKS052994I
A Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange,
Promissory Notes, Bank-Notes, and Checks.
Byles, Sir John Barnard. (Notes
By George Sharswood). (Greensboro, NC, U.S.A.) Price:
£ 26.98 Book Description: Philadelphia: T. And J. W.
Johnson and Co. 1874. Very Good. Sixth American
Edition. 8vo. 783 pages, indexed. Bound in full sheep
with dual labels (black and red) on spine.
Byles on Bills of Exchange (ISBN:0421140100)
Sir John Barnard Byles
Bookseller: www.anybookworld.com(Lincoln, LIN, United
Kingdom) Price: £ 178.74
Book Description: Sweet & M 1972. .Hardcover,Ex-Library,with
usual stamps markings, ,in good all-round condition,
,471pages., 1100grams, ISBN:0421140100. Bookseller
Inventory #192717
Byles On Bills Of Exchange And Cheques
(ISBN:0421456000)
SIR JOHN BARNARD BYLES Bookseller: Bookplace Ltd
(Watford, ., UK) Price: £ 207.00 Book Description:
SWEET & MAXWELL LTD 1997 UK. new Hardback 27TH ED
Provides a detailed narrative account of the law of
bills of exchange, promissory notes, bank notes and
cheques, arranged in order of topics covered by the
Bills of Exchange Act 1882 and Cheques Act 1957. This
survey traces the development of the law through
recent legislation and case law. Book Inventory
#0421456000
Byles on bills of exchange : the law of bills of
exchange, promissory notes, bank notes and cheques
Author/s Sir John Barnard Byles ...Edition
26th ed /
by Frank R Ryder and Antonio Bueno ; with the
assistance of Richard Hedley Publisher London : Sweet
& Maxwell, 1988 ...ISBN 0 421 38090 X Location 17
BYL Pmb library Accession no 1990/051
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