Rufus Isaacs, 1st Earl of Reading (10 October 1860 - 30 December 1935) was a British politician, judge, who served as Lord Chief Justice of England, and Viceroy of India from 1921 until his death in December 1935. He managed to steer British India through a time of great instability during the 1920s and 1930s; However, his death shortly before New Year's Eve has left a power vacuum in Bombay which needs to be filled very soon, or the future of British rule in India might be at stake.
History[]
Early Life[]
Isaacs was born in London, the son of a Jewish fruit importer at Spitalfields. He was educated at University College School and then entered the family business at the age of 15. In 1876–77 he served as a ship's boy and later worked as a jobber on the stock-exchange in the early 1880s.
Early Career[]
Isaacs was admitted as a student to the Middle Temple in 1885, and was called to the Bar in 1887. He set up his own chambers in Temple and was very successful; In 1898, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel, after only ten and half years at the junior bar. He mainly practised in the Commercial Court, with occasional appearance in the divorce court or at the Central Criminal Court.
At a by-election in 1904, Isaacs entered the House of Commons as the Liberal Party Member of Parliament for Reading. In 1910, he was appointed Solicitor General in the government of H. H. Asquith and received the customary knighthood. After six months, he was appointed Attorney General. In 1912, Asquith invited Isaacs to join the Cabinet; he was the first Attorney General to sit in the Cabinet.
The Marconi scandal[]
Isaacs was one of several high-ranking members of the Liberal government accused of involvement in the Marconi scandal. An article published in Le Matin on 14 February 1913 alleged corruption in the award of a government contract to the Marconi Company and insider trading in Marconi's shares, implicating a number of sitting government ministers, including Isaacs.
The allegations included the fact that Isaacs' brother, Godfrey Isaacs, was managing director of the Marconi company at the time that the cabinet, in which Isaacs sat, awarded Marconi the contract. Isaacs sued Le Matin for libel, and as a result, the journal apologised and printed a complete retraction in its 18 February 1913 issue.
Lord Chief Justice and Ambassador to the United States[]
In October 1913 he was made Lord Chief Justice of England, in succession to the Viscount Alverstone. He was elevated to the peerage as Baron Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, on 9 January 1914, which caused some controversy.
In August 1914 Reading was enlisted to deal with the financial crisis brought about by the outbreak of the Weltkrieg. In 1915 he led the Anglo-French Financial Commission to seek financial assistance for the Allies from the United States. During the December 1916 Cabinet crisis, he acted as intermediary between Asquith and David Lloyd George.
In September 1917 Reading returned to the United States with the special appointment of high commissioner to the United States and Canada. In 1918 he was appointed British Ambassador to the United States, all the while remaining Lord Chief Justice.
For his wartime public service he was appointed GCB in 1915, made Viscount Reading, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire in 1916, and Earl of Reading as well as Viscount Erleigh, of Erleigh in the County of Berkshire, in 1917.
Viceroy of India[]
WIP
In 1921, he resigned the chief justiceship to become Viceroy and Governor-General of India, replacing Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford.