The Life of Sir Edward Marshall Hall

Sir Edward Marshall Hall (1858–1927), known as ‘The Great Defender’, was arguably the last of the great celebrity ‘orator advocates’ to serve at the British bar, and “had the gift of throwing the whole of his personality into the case.” In a sometimes turbulent career, he was famed for his knowledge of medicine and poisons, and of firearms, and his great cases included that of prostitute Marie Hermann; the Yarmouth murder case; the Camden Town murder; poisoner Frederick Henry Seddon; ‘Brides in the bath’ killer George Joseph Smith; and the famous ‘Green Bicycle case’. He also defended Harold Greenwood, accused of poisoning his wife, and Marguarite Alibert (Mme Fahmy) who shot dead her husband at London’s Savoy Hotel; and he fought to save his client from the noose in the tragic case of Lock Ah Tam. Marshall Hall also had his own theory of the truth of the Crippen poisoning case.