Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
(1790-1868), JudgeEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 14 portraits
Rolfe twice served as Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom. Having trained in the law, Rolfe was called to the Bar in 1816. He entered Parliament as an MP in 1832 until he was appointed Vice Chancellor and raised to the peerage as Baron Cranworth in 1850. Two years later he became Lord Chancellor in Lord Aberdeen's coalition ministry. Cranworth was not reappointed when Palmerston returned to office in 1859, but in 1865 he accepted the office for a second time, and held it until the fall of the Russell administration in 1866. Just nine days before his death in 1868, he passed judgement in the case of Rylands v Fletcher, one of the most famous cases in English legal history.
by Sir John Gilbert
pencil, pen and ink and wash, 1855
NPG 1125
Engraving after 'The Coalition Ministry, 1854'
by William Walker, after Sir John Gilbert
engraving, 1857
NPG 1125a
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by George Richmond
oil on canvas, 1860
NPG 285
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s-1870s
NPG Ax68117
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s-1870s
NPG Ax68119
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by Caldesi, Blanford & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, early 1860s
NPG Ax16237
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by and published by William Walker
albumen print, published 1865
NPG Ax15858
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by Francis Holl, published by Joseph Hogarth, after George Richmond
stipple engraving, published 1850
NPG D34214
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by William Holl Jr, after George Richmond
stipple engraving, 1852 or after
NPG D20673
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by Francis Holl, published by Joseph Hogarth, after George Richmond
stipple engraving, published 1853
NPG D34215
'The New Ministry - the Cabinet', January 1853
by Frederick James Smyth, published by Illustrated London News
wood engraving, published 8 January 1853
NPG D45901
published by Illustrated London News
wood engraving, published 10 February 1866
NPG D48327
published by Illustrated London News
wood engraving, published 10 February 1866
NPG D48328
Robert Monsey Rolfe, Baron Cranworth
by William Walker
albumen carte-de-visite, circa 1865
NPG Ax38706
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