Identity:

Sir Henry Charles Lopes was a judge and politician of Maristow, Devon. He was the third son of Sir Ralph Lopes of Maristow, Devon, and Susan Gibbs, the eldest daughter of A. Ludlow of Heywood House, Wiltshire. In 1897 he became the first Baron Ludlow. In September 1854 he married Cordelia Lucy, the daughter of Erving Clark of Efford Manor, Devon. They had a son, Henry Ludlow, who became the second Baron Ludlow.

Life:

Lopes was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He was called to the bar in 1852 and elected bencher in 1870 and treasurer in 1890. He was a Conservative M.P. for Launceston from 1868 to 1874 and for Frome from 1874 to 1876. He became a Q.C. in 1869 and in 1876 a High Court Justice , sitting in the Common Pleas and later the Queen's Bench Division. He was also knighted in 1876. In 1885 he advanced to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council. He became Baron Ludlow of Heywood, Wiltshire, in 1897.

Lopes was involved in a law suit brought against JW by the painter and framemaker George Tacchi for non-payment of debts. The Tacchi v. Whistler case was heard in November 1878.

Bibliography:

Foster, Joseph, Men at the Bar, London, 1886; J. M. R., 'Sir Henry Charles Lopes', Dictionary of National Biography Online, Oxford, 1997 (accessed 17 October 2003).