Isaacs succeeded in initiating the widespread reforms embodied in the Montagu-Chelmsford report (1918), establishing a form of self-government in most of the Indian provinces and introducing improvements in agriculture and housing. His appointment was hailed as a move to reconcile warring factions in India and also to assuage the growing hostility toward British rule. Isaacs remained lord chief justice until 1920 when he was made viceroy of India, ruler of India on behalf of the British crown, the only Jew ever to hold this post. for a third time as high commissioner and special ambassador to convince the American government to send half a million American troops to France immediately. In the following spring he went to the U.S. two years later as special envoy with the object of persuading America to join the Allies. In 1915 he went to the United States as president of the Anglo-French mission and secured a loan of 500 million dollars. Yet although he was well known for his humanity and impartiality he was not considered a great judge.įollowing the outbreak of World War I, Isaacs became increasingly involved in problems of government finance and introduced the scheme by which the state guaranteed all bills of exchange, thereby preventing a panic in the London bill market.
#LORD ALEXANDER RUFUS ISSACS TRIAL#
He presided over several famous criminal cases, among them the trial of the Irish nationalist, Roger Casement, on charges of treason. In 1913 Isaacs was made lord chief justice of England, the first Jew ever to hold this post, and took the title of Lord Reading. Nevertheless, he was passed over for the appointment of lord chancellor because of his involvement in the Marconi scandal in which he was one of four ministers accused of attempting to make financial gain out of a government contract with the English Marconi Company. In the same year Isaacs was given a knighthood and appointed attorney-general. He was elected to parliament as a Liberal Imperialist in 1904 and was made solicitor-general in 1910. He amassed a considerable fortune and honors were heaped upon him. Isaacs' success at the bar was phenomenal. His ability to master complicated facts and his magnificent cross-examination of the financier Whittaker Wright on charges of fraud and of Frederick Seddon on charges of murdering his lodger won him the reputation as one of the greatest advocates of all time.
#LORD ALEXANDER RUFUS ISSACS SERIES#
Subsequently he was involved in a series of cases which brought him before the public eye. His knowledge of the commercial world enabled him to establish himself as a leading commercial counsel and in 1898 he was made a queen's counsel. Isaacs planned to sail to Panama to recoup his losses but was persuaded by his mother to study for the bar instead and was admitted in 1887. In 1884, however, he was unable to meet his obligations and was "hammered" (suspended from the exchange). He returned to England two years later and in 1879 went into the London Stock Exchange in an attempt to make his fortune. Born in London into a family of fruit merchants, and a relative of the famous boxer Daniel *Mendoza, Isaacs went to sea as a ship's boy at the age of 16. RUFUS DANIEL ISAACS (1860–1935), first marquess of Reading, British statesman, advocate and lord chief justice. READING, family of British statesmen and lawyers.
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