Christopher Puller

Sir Christopher Puller (1774 – 26 May 1824) was an English lawyer who was briefly Chief Justice of Bengal.^[1]

Christopher Puller
Born	1774 (1774)
Died	26 May 1824(1824-05-26) (aged 49–50)
Education	Christ Church, Oxford Inner Temple
Occupation(s)	Lawyer and judge
Children	Christopher William Puller
Parent	Richard Puller (father)

Life

He was born the son of London merchant Richard Puller and educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1795, and was elected a fellow of Oriel College. He studied law at the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1800. He then moved in 1812 to Lincoln's Inn, where he was elected a bencher in 1822.^[1]

He appeared for the prosecution in the 1812 trial of William Booth for forgery.^[2] Booth was sentenced to hang.^[2]

In his early career Puller worked as a law reporter with Sir Justice John Bernard Bosanquet. In 1823 he accepted the post of Chief Justice at the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William, Calcutta and received the customary knighthood. However, like his predecessor Sir Robert Henry Blosset, he died there within a few months of starting his judicial duties.^[1]

He was buried in St John's Churchyard, Calcutta.^[3]

Family

Puller married Louisa King (1772–1857), daughter of Joseph King of Taplow, and niece of Daniel Giles of Youngsbury, Hertfordshire. Christopher William Puller, Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire, was their son.^[4][5]

References

1. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Puller, Christopher" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. Anon. (1812). The Trial, at Large, of William Booth, and His Associates, George Scot, the Three Yates's, John Barrows, and Elizabeth Childlow, for Forgery, Coining, &c. at The Stafford Summer Assizes, 1812 . Wolverhampton: Gower and Smart – via Wikisource.
3. "Christopher Puller". findagrave. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
4. Potier, Jeanne. "Puller, Sir Christopher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22882. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. E. Walford (1882). The county families of the United Kingdom. Рипол Классик. p. 251. ISBN 978-5-87194-361-8.

Attribution

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Puller, Christopher". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co.