CHAPTER XLVII 



SPORTSMEN OF THE BENCH AND BAR 



Baron Brampton, better known as Sir Henry Hawkins, 

 was almost as familiar a figure at Newmarket as in the 

 Law Courts, and no end of stories were told of his efforts to 

 combine the duties of a judge with the pleasures of a 

 sportsman. Many of these stories, no doubt, were apoc- 

 ryphal, but the publication of Sir Henry's racy Reinijii- 

 scences proves how keen a lover of sport he was, and 

 how varied were his experiences. The Prize Ring shared 

 with the Turf his early patronage, and he has many a 

 good story of great fights he had seen — indeed, he was 

 once mistaken for an eminent pugilist, and by his bold 

 "bluff" in assuming the character extricated himself from 

 a very tight place. But it was on the race-course that he 

 was most at home. In his love of the Turf he had one 

 sympathetic brother on the Bench in the person of the late 

 Lord Chief Justice — Lord Russell of Killowen, who, as Sir 

 Charles Russell, was the foremost advocate of his day. 

 His knowledge of racing stood him in good stead in the 

 cause celebre of Wood v. Cox, when, by his masterly conduct 

 of the case, he secured a moral victory for the eccentric 

 proprietor of the Licensed Victuallers^ Gazette. 



But neither Lord Brampton nor Lord Russell could hold 

 a candle to Baron Martin, who, in his later days, openly 

 expressed his regret that he had not abandoned the Bar 

 for the Turf 



Baron Martin was the only judge who owned racehorses. 

 It is true that his name was never registered as an owner, 

 but it was well known that the Baron had a half-share in 

 several horses which ran under the name and colours of 

 Harry Hill, the famous bookmaker. Rogerthorpe was the 



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