| George Edalji | |
|---|---|
 George Edalji |
|
| Born | March 1876 West Midlands |
| Died | 17 June 1953 died at 9 Brocket Close, Welwyn Garden City |
| Cause of death | Coronary thrombosis |
| Ethnicity | Anglo-Indian |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
| Known for | Great Wyrley |
| Religious beliefs | Parsi |
| Parents | Shapurji Edalji, Charlotte Stoneham |
George Ernest Thompson Edalji (March 1876 – 17 June 1953) was a solicitor from the West Midlands who gained notability for being defended in a case of horse slashing by the author Arthur Conan Doyle.
Edalji was the eldest of three children of Shapurji Edalji and Charlotte Stoneham. His father was of Indian descent (a Parsi of Bombay), and his mother Scottish. Edalji became a solicitor in Birmingham, England, during the early 1900s. He proved to be a capable student during law school, and won prizes from the Law Society. He wrote the book Railway Law for the "Man in the train", which was "intended as a guide for the Travelling Public".
Wrongful conviction
He was wrongly convicted of the 'Great Wyrley Outrages', but cleared as the result of an investigation by Arthur Conan Doyle. His wrongful conviction led to the creation of England's Court of Criminal Appeal in 1907. Nonetheless, despite the Home Office's conclusion that Edalji was innocent of slashing animals, the Home Office stood by the idea that Edalji was responsible for sending menacing letters in Staffordshire, including to his own family. Long after the incident had faded from public memory, a fifty-seven year old laborer named Enoch Knowles confessed to having sent the obscene letters over a thirty-year period. Julian Barnes' 2005 novel Arthur & George (ISBN 0-224-07703-1) recounts the entire episode in great detail, as does the non-fiction work Conan Doyle and the Parson's Son: The George Edalji Case (ISBN 1843862417).
Edalji died at 9 Brocket Close, Welwyn Garden City, on June 17, 1953 from coronary thrombosis.
External links
- Conan Doyle and The Parson's Son:The George Edalji Case
- Birmingham City Council biography
- Conan Doyle and The George Edalji Case
- About the novel by Julian Barnes «Arthur & George»
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