Lewis, George Henry
Address: 88 Portland Place / Oatlands, Ashley Cottage, Chertsey, London
Occupation: Solicitor To Sir Julian Goldsmid
Called on: Day 6 | Day 16 | Day 18
Witness Type: Other, Petition witness
Party: Liberal
Hired by Sir Julian Goldsmid to act as his solicitor in preparation to petition the result of the by-election and the corrupt practices that had occurred. Was subsequently called to give evidence as Sir Julian’s solicitor at both the Petition and Corrupt Practices Trials.
In 1850 he was articled to his father, James Graham Lewis (1804–1873), founder of Lewis & Lewis, one of the best-known firms of solicitors in the city of London.
Lewis was knighted in 1893. It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII, and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Portland place, in the borough of Marylebone.The Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour, apparently objected, but a grateful King overruled him.
Lewis had by far the largest practise in financial cases of any lawyer in London, and was especially expert in libel cases, being retained by some of the chief newspapers. He showed himself especially skilful in exposing the practises of usurious money-lenders. One of the last cases he was involved in personally was the Archer-Shee case in 1908, the 14-year-old naval cadet expelled from Osborne College accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order, the basis of Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_George_Lewis,_1st_Baronet