John Lawson Walton

Sir John Lawson Walton KC (4 August 1852 – 19 January 1908) was a British barrister and Liberal politician.

Family and education

John Lawson Walton was the son of the Reverend John Walton MA, a Wesleyan missionary in Ceylon who later preached at Grahamstown in South Africa and who became President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference for Great Britain in 1887 and was later President of the Wesleyan Conference for South Africa. His mother was Emma, the daughter of the Reverend Thomas Harris. daughter of Robert Hedderwick (1806-1887), Queen`s printer and publisher of Glasgow, who was a founder and co-proprietor of the newspaper the Glasgow Citizen. Lawson Walton`s father was co-celebrant at the ceremony. One of Joanna`s brothers was Thomas Hedderwick (1850-1918), Liberal MP for Wick Burghs from 1896 to 1900. He was appointed Queen's Counsel on 4 February 1890, swearing the oath in the company of two other illustrious Liberals R B Haldane and H H Asquith. Walton often appeared on behalf of trade unions, including in 1898 in the case of Allen v. Flood, a leading case in English law on intentionally inflicted economic loss. Walton was elected Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1897.

Politics "a Radical lawyer". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1902. In 1891, Walton was selected as Liberal candidate for Battersea to replace the sitting Liberal MP Octavius Vaughan Morgan who was standing down. had announced he intended to stand for election in Battersea at the next general election. Walton decided to stand aside so Burns could contest the seat.

Walton then sought adoption as Liberal candidate for Central Leeds and was selected to fight the 1892 general election. but was given another chance to enter the House of Commons when the Liberal MP for the neighbouring Leeds South constituency, Sir Lyon Playfair went to the House of Lords, creating a by-election. Walton won the ensuing contest on 22 September 1892 beating his Conservative opponent R J N Neville by 948 votes (12 percent of the poll). He held the seat at each subsequent election until his death.

Political orientation Walton was said to be a strong radical in domestic politics, especially on issues concerning the House of Lords and the established church. He was a member of the Liberal Imperialist group associated with Lord Rosebery during the South African War of 1899–1902. Although Walton was not himself an Anglican he took an interest in religious questions. He was a witness before the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline of 1904 when he spoke in favour of more effective procedure against clergy charged with breaking the law. Walton moving towards the centralists position was appointed Attorney-General in the newly formed government of Henry Campbell-Bannerman on 14 December 1905, and he was knighted on 18 December. He also sat as a Justice of the Peace for the county of Buckinghamshire where he had a country home at Butlers Cross.

Death Walton had a history of ill-health and general frailty. As the 1906 Parliament wore on, his appearances in the House of Commons got rarer and he cut down his ministerial duties as much as possible. It was reported that attendance in the House through two all-night sittings when in charge of the Criminal Court Appeal Bill proved the last straw, and in January 1908 Walton developed a chill which developed into double pneumonia; he died on Saturday 18 January 1908, aged 55, at his house in Great Cumberland Place, London. He was buried at Ellesborough, near Wendover in Buckinghamshire on 22 January, and a memorial service was held at the Temple Church the following day.

Papers A number of letters written by Walton to Herbert Gladstone are deposited in the British Library manuscript collections.