Alexander James Edmund Cockburn was born
24 December 1802 in England. In
1822, he entered Trinity Hall at Cambridge University to study law. He was admitted to
Middle Temple in
1825, and was called to the bar in
1829. In
1847, Cockburn was elected to the British Parliament as the liberal representative from
Southampton.
In
1850, he was named Solicitor General, and also received his knighthood. Cockburn and
Bethell were consulted on the issue of revenues after the purchase of Hudson's Bay land on
Vancouver Island by the British Government. They were also consulted about the Hudson's Bay assertion
of land rights in
British Columbia. They argued against the HBC's claim stating,
there are not any grounds on which the Company is entitled to claim against the Crown
the absolute ownership of any of the Lands, occupied or used in British Columbia before the Treaty of Oregon.
In
1856, he was made Attorney General; a post he kept until he was appointed the Chief Justice
on the Queen's Bench in
1859. He died
20 November 1880 at his home at the age of 78.