{{Short description|British judge and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} [[File:Forrest Fulton Vanity Fair 9 July 1903.jpg|thumb|right|Sir Forrest Fulton by 'Spy' in ''Vanity Fair'' 9 July 1903]]
'''Sir''' '''James Forrest Fulton''' (12 July 1846 – 25 June 1926) was a British judge and Conservative politician.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Forrest Fulton. Thirty Years On The Bench. |newspaper=The Times |date=27 June 1925 |page=16}}</ref>
==Early life== Born in Ostend, Belgium, he was the youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel James Forrest Fulton and his wife, Fanny née Jessopp.<ref name=whowho>{{cite web |title=FULTON Sir (James) Forrest |work=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |access-date=7 December 2010 |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U196687}}</ref> Fulton was educated at Norwich School under his uncle, the Reverend Augustus Jessopp before attending the University of London.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit/><ref>Harries et al. (1991), p. 216</ref> He graduated with a BA degree in 1867 and Bachelor of Laws degree in 1873.<ref name=whowho/>
==Legal career 1872–1886== Fulton was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1872.<ref name=whowho/> Practising on the South Eastern Circuit, he held a number of senior legal posts including treasury counsel at the Middlesex Sessions, senior counsel to the Post Office and senior counsel to the Treasury at the Central Criminal Court.<ref name=whowho/>
==Member of parliament 1886–1892== At the 1885 general election, Fulton was the Conservative Party's candidate to contest the newly created constituency of West Ham North. He was defeated by a margin of 719 votes.<ref name=obit/> A further election was held in 1886, and Fulton stood at West Ham North again. He was elected to the Commons with a majority of 727 votes.<ref name=obit/> He was described as having "made no particular mark" in parliament, and was unseated at the next general election in 1892, losing to the Liberal Party candidate, Archibald Grove, by 33 votes.<ref name=obit/>
==Common Serjeant and Recorder of London 1892–1922==
On leaving parliament, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel, and was briefly Recorder of Maidstone. In August 1892 Sir William Charley resigned as Common Serjeant of London and Fulton was appointed his successor.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26316 |date=12 August 1892 |page=4592 }}</ref> He was knighted in the same year,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26352 |date=9 December 1892 |page=7217 }}</ref> and made a Lieutenant of the City of London,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=26348 |date=25 November 1892 |page=6791}}</ref> a Commissioner of the Central Criminal Court, and a Judge of the Mayor's Court of London. While Common Serjeant he presided over the case that led to the conviction of Adolph Beck for fraud in 1896. Eight years later an enquiry established that the conviction was a miscarriage of justice, a decision that led to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal.<ref name=obit/>
In March 1900 Sir Charles Hall, Recorder of London, died. Fulton was chosen to fill the post later the same month.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Recordership of London|date=21 March 1900 |page=8 |issue=36095}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27176 |date=23 March 1900 |page=1965 }}</ref> He was succeeded as Common Serjeant of London by Frederick Albert Bosanquet QC. As Recorder Fulton tried the case of Kitty Byron, who was charged with the murder of Arthur Reginald Baker in 1902.
Fulton held the Recordership until March 1922, when he resigned due to ill health.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit/> He died at his home in Sheringham, Norfolk, in June 1925, aged 79.<ref name=obit/>
==References== {{reflist}} * {{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last1=Harries|first1=R.|last2=Cattermole|first2=P.|last3=Mackintosh|first3=P.|title=A History of Norwich School: King Edward VI's Grammar School at Norwich|year=1991|location=Norwich|publisher=Friends of Norwich School|isbn=978-0-9518561-1-6}}
==External links== * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-james-fulton | James Forrest Fulton }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef | before = Edward Rider Cook}} {{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for West Ham North | years = 1886 – 1892 }} {{s-aft | after=Archibald Grove}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, James Forrest}} Category:1846 births Category:1925 deaths Category:People from Sheringham Category:People educated at Norwich School Category:Alumni of the University of London Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 1886–1892 Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:Common Serjeants of London Category:Recorders of London