John Paget was an English barrister, police magistrate and author
Background
He was the second son of Thomas Paget, a banker in Leicester, of Humberstone, Leicestershire where he was born on 14 May 1811. He was educated at home, and after some years as assistant in his father"s bank, entered the Middle Temple on 16 October 1835, and was called to the bar on 2 November 1838.
Career
From 1850 till 1855 he was secretary first to Lord Chancellor Truro, and then to Lord Chancellor Cranworth. In 1864 Paget was appointed a magistrate at the Thames police court. He was transferred from it to the Hammersmith and Wandsworth courts On their separation he presided over the court in West London till his resignation in 1889.
On 1 March 1839 Paget married Elizabeth, daughter of William Rathbone V of Greenbank House, Liverpool.
Membership
As a young man Paget was a Whig, an activist for the Great Reform Bill, and a member of the Reform Club from its foundation in 1836. He was a member of the library committee there for 24 years, being chairman of it from 1861 to 1865.
