Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
Encyclopedia
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough PC KC (16 November 1750 – 13 December 1818) was an English
judge
. After serving as a Member of Parliament
and Attorney General
, he became Lord Chief Justice
.
, in Cumberland
, of which place his father, Edmund Law
(1703–1787), afterwards Bishop of Carlisle
, was at the time rector. Educated at the Charterhouse
and at Peterhouse, Cambridge
, he passed as third wrangler, and was soon afterwards elected to a fellowship at Trinity
. In spite of his father's strong wish that he should take orders, he chose the legal profession, and on quitting the university was entered at Lincoln's Inn
.
in the celebrated impeachment trial
before the House of Lords
, and the ability with which he conducted the defence was universally recognized.
He had begun his political career as a Whig
, but, like many others, he saw in the French Revolution
a reason for changing sides, and became a supporter of Pitt
. On the formation of the Addington
ministry in 1801, he was appointed Attorney General
and shortly afterwards was returned to the House of Commons
as Member of Parliament
for Newtown
in the Isle of Wight
. He was knighted
in the same year. In 1802 he succeeded Lord Kenyon as chief justice of the king's bench. On being raised to the bench he was created Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough
, in the County in Cumberland, taken from the village where his maternal ancestors had long held a small patrimony. In 1803, he introduced a bill to Parliament which went onto become the Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803
(often referred to as Lord Ellenborough's Act) which clarified the law on abortion in England and Ireland.
In 1806, on the formation of Lord Grenville's ministry "of all the talents," Lord Ellenborough declined the offer of the office of Lord Chancellor
, but accepted a seat in the cabinet. His doing so while he retained the chief justiceship was much criticized at the time, and, though not without precedent, was open to such obvious objections on constitutional grounds that the experiment was never repeated. As a judge he had grave faults, though his decisions displayed profound legal knowledge, and in mercantile law especially were reckoned of high authority. He was harsh and overbearing to counsel, and in the political trials which were so frequent in his time, such as that of Lord Cochrane
for Stock Exchange fraud in 1814, showed an unmistakable bias against the accused. In the trial of William Hone
for blasphemy
in 1817, Ellenborough directed the jury to find a verdict of guilty, and their acquittal of the prisoner is generally said to have hastened his death. He resigned his judicial office in November 1818, and died shortly after.
, afterwards earl of Ellenborough; another son was Charles Law
(1792–1850), recorder of London and Member of Parliament for Cambridge University
from 1835 until his death in August 1850.
Three of Ellenborough's brothers attained some degree of fame. These were John Law
(1745–1810), bishop of Elphin; Thomas Law (1759–1834), who settled in the United States
in 1793, and married, as his second wife, Eliza Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington
; and George Henry Law
(1761–1845), bishop of Chester and of Bath and Wells. The connection of the Law family with the English Church was kept up by George Henry's sons, three of whom took orders. Two of these were Henry Law (1797–1884), dean of Gloucester, and James Thomas Law (1790–1876), chancellor of the diocese of Lichfield.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. After serving as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, he became Lord Chief Justice
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
.
Early life
Law was born at Great SalkeldGreat Salkeld
Great Salkeld is a small village and civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, a few miles to the north east of Penrith.The village is believed to have been connected at one time by a bridge over the River Eden to Little Salkeld...
, in Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, of which place his father, Edmund Law
Edmund Law
Edmund Law was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy in the University of Cambridge from 1764 to 1769, and as bishop of Carlisle from 1768 to 1787....
(1703–1787), afterwards Bishop of Carlisle
Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.The diocese covers the County of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District...
, was at the time rector. Educated at the Charterhouse
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
and at Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse, Cambridge
Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the oldest college of the University, having been founded in 1284 by Hugo de Balsham, Bishop of Ely...
, he passed as third wrangler, and was soon afterwards elected to a fellowship at Trinity
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
. In spite of his father's strong wish that he should take orders, he chose the legal profession, and on quitting the university was entered at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
.
Career
After spending five years as a special pleader under the bar, he was called to the bar in 1780. He chose the northern circuit, and in a very short time obtained a lucrative practice and a high reputation. In 1787 he was appointed principal counsel for Warren HastingsWarren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
in the celebrated impeachment trial
Impeachment of Warren Hastings
The Impeachment of Warren Hastings was a failed attempt to impeach the former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings in the Parliament of Great Britain between 1788 and 1795. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta particularly relating to mismanagement and personal...
before the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, and the ability with which he conducted the defence was universally recognized.
He had begun his political career as a Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
, but, like many others, he saw in the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
a reason for changing sides, and became a supporter of Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
. On the formation of the Addington
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC was a British statesman, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804....
ministry in 1801, he was appointed Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
and shortly afterwards was returned to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Newtown
Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)
Newtown was a parliamentary borough located in Newtown on the Isle of Wight, which was represented in the House of Commons of England then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...
in the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. He was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the same year. In 1802 he succeeded Lord Kenyon as chief justice of the king's bench. On being raised to the bench he was created Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough
Ellenborough, Cumbria
Ellenborough is a suburb of the town of Maryport, located in the Allerdale District in the county of Cumbria, England. Ellenborough is a residential area and has a post office, a school and a few places of worship...
, in the County in Cumberland, taken from the village where his maternal ancestors had long held a small patrimony. In 1803, he introduced a bill to Parliament which went onto become the Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803
Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803
Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
(often referred to as Lord Ellenborough's Act) which clarified the law on abortion in England and Ireland.
In 1806, on the formation of Lord Grenville's ministry "of all the talents," Lord Ellenborough declined the offer of the office of Lord Chancellor
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...
, but accepted a seat in the cabinet. His doing so while he retained the chief justiceship was much criticized at the time, and, though not without precedent, was open to such obvious objections on constitutional grounds that the experiment was never repeated. As a judge he had grave faults, though his decisions displayed profound legal knowledge, and in mercantile law especially were reckoned of high authority. He was harsh and overbearing to counsel, and in the political trials which were so frequent in his time, such as that of Lord Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
for Stock Exchange fraud in 1814, showed an unmistakable bias against the accused. In the trial of William Hone
William Hone
William Hone was an English writer, satirist and bookseller. His victorious court battle against government censorship in 1817 marked a turning point in the fight for British press freedom.-Biography:...
for blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
in 1817, Ellenborough directed the jury to find a verdict of guilty, and their acquittal of the prisoner is generally said to have hastened his death. He resigned his judicial office in November 1818, and died shortly after.
Family
Lord Ellenborough married Ann Towry (died 1843), daughter of George Phillips Towry and his wife Elizabeth, on 17 October 1789. They had five sons and five daughters who survived infancy. He was succeeded as second baron by his eldest son, EdwardEdward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough GCB, PC was a British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844.-Background and education:...
, afterwards earl of Ellenborough; another son was Charles Law
Charles Law (British politician)
The Honourable Charles Ewan Law QC , was a British judge and Conservative Party politician.-Background and education:...
(1792–1850), recorder of London and Member of Parliament for Cambridge University
Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)
Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems:...
from 1835 until his death in August 1850.
Three of Ellenborough's brothers attained some degree of fame. These were John Law
John Law (bishop)
John Law DD was an English mathematician and clergyman who began his career as a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, and went on to become chaplain to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Church of Ireland bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh , Killala and Achonry , and finally of Elphin .He was a...
(1745–1810), bishop of Elphin; Thomas Law (1759–1834), who settled in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1793, and married, as his second wife, Eliza Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
; and George Henry Law
George Henry Law
George Henry Law was the Bishop of Chester and then, from 1824, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was the son of Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle....
(1761–1845), bishop of Chester and of Bath and Wells. The connection of the Law family with the English Church was kept up by George Henry's sons, three of whom took orders. Two of these were Henry Law (1797–1884), dean of Gloucester, and James Thomas Law (1790–1876), chancellor of the diocese of Lichfield.