Sir John Wither Awdry DL (21 October 1795 – 31 May 1878)[1] was an English-born Indian judge.

Born at Swindon, he was the second and oldest surviving son of John Awdry and his wife Jane, the second daughter of Lovelace Bigg.[2] Awdry was educated at Westminster School and then at Christ Church, Oxford.[1] He was first in classics in 1816 and graduated with a Master of Arts ten years later. In 1844, Awdry received a Doctorate of Civil Law by the University of Oxford.[2]

Awdry was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1822 and became a bencher in 1830, on whose occasion he was created a Knight Bachelor.[2] He was puisne judge and commissioner of the Insolvent Debtor's Court in Bombay.[2] In 1839, he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Bombay, resigning from this post after three years.[2] After his return to England, Awdry served as chairman of the Quarter Sessions in Wiltshire and represented the county as Deputy Lieutenant from 1852.[1]

On 29 June 1830, he married firstly Sarah Maria, eldest daughter of Jonathan Awdry, and had by her two sons and a daughter.[3] After her death, he married Frances Ellen, second daughter of Thomas Carr on 24 July 1839.[3] By his second wife, he had eight sons and four daughters.[3] Awdry died at his home at Notton House.[1] His sons included William, an Anglican bishop,[4] and Charles, senior partner of W. H. Smith.[5] He was the paternal grandfather of the writer and clergyman Wilbert Awdry.

Arms

Coat of arms of John Wither Awdry
Crest
Out of a ducal coronet a lion's head Azure.
Escutcheon
Argent three cinquefoils Or on a bend Azure cotised of the same.
Motto
Nil Sine Deo[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hutchinson, John (2003). A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 9. ISBN 1-58477-323-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 98.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Burke, John (1862). Sir Bernard Burke (ed.). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. I. London: Harrison. p. 39.
  4. ↑ Ion, A. Hamilton (1993). The Cross and the Rising Sun: The British Protestant Missionary Movement in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 1865-1945. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-88920-218-4.
  5. ↑ "Charles Awdry (1847-1912)". Letters of Charlotte Mary Yonge. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015.
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