Background
Byles was the a grandson of Mr Jeremiah Byles (1733-1790), a timber-merchant from Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
Byles was the a grandson of Mr Jeremiah Byles (1733-1790), a timber-merchant from Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
Byles studied law and became a member of the Inner Temple, where he was a pupil of the renowned Joseph Chitty, and became a special pleader.
He published an influential text on bills of exchange in 1829, commonly referred to as "Byles on Bills". In 1829 he published a seminal work on bills of exchange, A Treatise on the Law of Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes, Bank-Notes, and Cheques, which is commonly referred to as Byles on Bills. He is even said to have named his horse "Bills", so that when approaching, people would utter "Here comes Byles on Bills".
He was called to the Bar in November 1831.
He joined the Norfolk circuit and in 1840 he was appointed recorder of Buckingham, and then in 1843 became a Serjeant-at-law. In 1857 he was appointed Queen"s Serjeant.
Byles once ran as a candidate for Parliament in the Aylesbury constituency, but lost. In January 1858 he was promoted to the bench and was later made a Knight Bachelor and Justice of the Common Pleas.
He often oversaw cases at the Central Criminal Court in London.
He was described by the contemporary press as being a judge of the "old school", reminiscent of lawyers from Elizabethan times in his predilection for employing old-fashioned sayings and "saws". He was also a stickler for proper (black) clothing in court, once remarking to Lord Coleridge "I always listen with little pleasure to the arguments of counsel whose legs are encased in light gray trousers". In January 1873 he resigned as a judge due to his failing health.
He resided in Hatfield House, Uxbridge.
Daniel Good - sentenced to death for murder in 1842. Before his trial, he escaped from custody and the ensuing chase caused the police to set up the Detective Branch for pursuing criminals on the run.
Catherine Wilson - found guilty of poisoning in 1862. Byles said to the defence lawyer, Montagu Williams, Queen's Counsel, directly after the trial ended: "I sent for you to tell you that you did that case remarkably well.
But it was no good; the facts were too strong.
William Roupell - found guilty of fraud in 1862
Frances Kidder - found guilty of murder in 1868
Sentenced to death in 1872 but later commuted to life in prison.
I prosecuted Rush for the murder of Mr. Jermy, I defended Daniel Good, and I defended several other notable criminals when I was on the Norfolk Circuit. But, if it will be of any satisfaction to you, I may tell you that in my opinion you have to-day defended the greatest criminal that ever lived.".
He then became, on 3 March, a member of the Privy Council but he died soon after on 3 February 1884, aged eighty-two.