William St Julien Arabin

William St Julien Arabin
Judge-Advocate-General of the Army
In office
6 November 1838 – 21 February 1839
Preceded byRobert Cutlar Fergusson
Succeeded bySir George Grey, Bt
Personal details
Born1775
Died15 December 1841(1841-12-15) (aged 67–68)
High Beech, Waltham Abbey
Spouse
Mary Meux
​
​
(after 1802)​
ChildrenRichard Arabin
Parent(s)William John Arabin
EducationSt Paul's School, London
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Cambridge

William St Julien Arabin (1773 – 15 December 1841) was a British lawyer and judge who served as the Judge-Advocate-General of the Army for a three-and-a-half-month period (6 November 1838 – 21 February 1839).

Early life

Arabin was born abroad,[1] one of many sons of Henrietta Molyneux and her husband and Gen. William John Arabin (originally from Dublin), who left him significant estates in Essex and Middlesex.[2][3] His father divorced his mother in 1786 following her affair with Thomas Sutton of Moulsey.[4]

He was descended from one of the oldest families in Provence. His Huguenot ancestor Bartholomew d'Arabin fled to Holland after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, and came over to England with King William III in 1688.[5] His maternal grandparents were Sir Capel Molyneux, 3rd Baronet and the former Elizabeth East (sister of Sir William East, 1st Baronet).[citation needed]

Arabin attended St Paul's School, London and then studied Law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was admitted to Inner Temple in 1793, and was called to the bar in 1801. He was appointed serjeant-at-law in 1824.[6]

Career

He was Deputy Recorder of the City of London. He served as Judge-Advocate-General of the Army 1838–39. He was a judge of the Central Criminal Court and of Sheriffs' Court, London. He was a Verderer of the forests of Epping and Hainault.[7]

As a judge, Arabin was known as an eccentric figure who was notorious for his confused pronouncements.[8] Some of his most famous quotes include:[9][10]

  • Prisoner, God has given you good abilities, instead of which you go about the country stealing ducks.[11]
  • If there ever was a case of clearer evidence than this of persons acting together, this case is that case...[12] and
  • They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets — I know it from experience...[13]

Personal life

On 12 October 1803, Arabin married Mary Meux in Camden.[14] She was a daughter of brewer Richard Meux[15] and Mary (née Brougham) Meux and sister to Sir Henry Meux, 1st Baronet.[16][17] A sister, Fanny Meux, was the wife of Vicesimus Knox.[18] Together, William and Mary were the parents of:

He died at Arabin House in High Beech, Waltham Abbey, Essex, in 1841.[3]

Descendants

Through his son Richard Arabin (1811-1865), he was a grandfather of William St Julien Arabin (1842-1907), Alice Charlotte Arabin (wife of Hon. Arthur Charles Lewin Cadogan, a son of Henry Cadogan, 4th Earl Cadogan), and Marianne Elizabeth Arabin (wife of John William Gordon Woodford, son of Sir Alexander George Woodford).[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ 1841 England Census
  2. ^ "Death of Mr. Serjeant Arabin". The Times. 17 December 1841. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b "Mr. Serjeant Arabin". The Gentleman's Magazine: 219. 1842.
  4. ^ Arabin, William John (20 April 2018). The Trial of Mrs. Henrietta Arabin, Wife of William John Arabin, ... In the Bishop of London's Court, at Doctors Commons, for Committing Adultery with Thomas Sutton. ISBN 978-1379885153.
  5. ^ Marshall, John (1831). Royal Naval Biography. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 69. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  6. ^ Cambridge University Alumni: 1261-1900
  7. ^ Venn, John; Venn, John Archibald, eds. (September 2011). Alumni Cantabrigienses. Cambridge University Press. p. 65. ISBN 9781108036115. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  8. ^ Megarry, Sir Robert (31 December 1969). Arabinesque at Law. Wildy & Sons. ISBN 978-0854900107.
  9. ^ Notes and Queries, clxx.310
  10. ^ Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1981), 2nd ed., page 7
  11. ^ Swainson, Bill (30 September 2000). The Encarta Book of Quotations. Macmillan. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-312-23000-5. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  12. ^ Phillips, Patrick J. J. (April 2013). Gagging on Profundity - a Collection of Philosophical Humor. FriesenPress. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4602-2101-3. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ^ Wills, Rob (5 May 2016). Alias Blind Larry: The Mostly True Memoir of James Laurence The Singing Convict. Australian Scholarly Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-925333-11-4. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  14. ^ London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
  15. ^ "Richard Meux". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Mary Meux (née Brougham)". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  17. ^ Cokayne, G.E.; with Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, H.A.; White, Geoffrey H.; Warrand, Duncan; and de Walden, Lord Howard; editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 282.
  18. ^ Burke, John Bernard (1845). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. p. 678. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Elizabeth Mary Arabin (née Meux)". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  20. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1873). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Hurst and Blackett, limited. p. 784. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  21. ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Henry Colburn. 1868. p. 754. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
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