Sir John Richard Quain (1816–76), Judge

Biography

Born at Ratheahy, County Cork, Quain was educated first at the University of Göttingen, and then University College where he was the recipient of a three-year scholarship in jurisprudence and was awarded an LLB in 1839. He became a Fellow of University College in 1843 and, in 1860, was appointed to the Senate of the University of London.

Quain was admitted to Middle Temple on 18 November 1837, worked in the chambers of Thomas Chitty (1802–78), and was called to the Bar on 30 May 1851, thereafter practising on the Northern Circuit. In 1871 he was appointed a judge of Queen’s Bench and knighted the following year. He died in 1876 after long period of illness. 

The Quain family had an enduring association with University College. Quain's half-brother Jones Quain (1796–1865) was Professor of General Anatomy from 1831 to 1836, and his brother Richard (1800–87) served as a demonstrator in anatomy (1828–32), Professor of Descriptive Anatomy (1832–50), and Assistant Surgeon to the North London Hospital (later University College Hospital) from 1834 until his promotion to Surgeon in 1850. 

Richard Quain’s bequest to the College established several professorships and studentships, including a Quain Professorship in Law in honour of his brother. The College was also presented with John Richard Quain’s law library as part of his legacy. 

Sources

• Annual Register, vol. 118 (1877), p. 154
• American Law Review, vol. 11 (1877), p. 395
• Harte, North, and Brewis, The World of UCL
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entries for the Quains

Caricature of John Richard Quain in Augustine Birrell, Sir Frank Lockwood: a biographical sketch, 2nd edition, London, 1898, p. 58. The caricature is titled 'The March of Intellect'.