French was born in 1817, in Tortola, the West Indies, His father, Mark Dyer French, was a barrister in the West Indies who had also served at one time as Registrar of the Court of Common Pleas of the British Virgin Islands.
In his capacity as Chief Justice, he was also Acting Governor of Sierra Leone from December 1874 to 1875.
[4] In 1875, the Sierra Leone government faced serious financial difficulties and French was placed on a pension.
In 1877, French was appointed Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan in Shanghai, replacing Sir Edmund Hornby.
His grave was moved to Futatabi Cemetery after World War II where it remains to this day.