Sir James Cockle was an English lawyer and mathematician. Educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, he entered the Middle Temple in 1838 and began practising as a special pleader in 1845. Joining the midland circuit, he acquired a good practice, and on the recommendation of Chief Justice Sir William Erle was appointed as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1863. He served in this position until his retirement and return to England in 1879. Cockle was awarded with a knighthood in 1869.
