Person

Alverstone, Richard Everard Webster, Viscount, 1842-1915

1842-1915

Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, was born on December 22, 1842, in London, England.

He was a British barrister, politician, and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices. Called to the Bar in 1868, Webster quickly developed a large legal practice. He was appointed Attorney-General in 1885 and was elected MP a month later. With two brief breaks, he held this office until he was appointed Lord Chief Justice in 1900. Until 1895, when he agreed to forgo the right to do so, he continued in private practice, and 1888-89, appeared before the Parnell commission as leading counsel for The Times. He presided over some notable trials of the era, including that of Dr. Hawley Crippen. He served on various international arbitration commissions, including those dealing with the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy (1893) and the Venezuela Boundary Dispute (1898–99). In the Alaska Boundary Dispute (1903), he gave the deciding vote against the Canadian claims. He wrote “Recollections of Bar and Bench” (1914).

In 1872, he married Louisa Mary Calthrop (-1877). He died on December 15, 1915, in Cranleigh, Surrey, England.