Thomas William Saunders (1814–1890), was an English metropolitan police magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

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Biography

Saunders, second son of Samuel E. Saunders of Bath, by Sarah, his wife, was born on 21 February 1814. He was entered a student at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 on 16 April 1832, and called to the bar on 9 June 1837. From 1855 to October 1860 he was recorder of Dartmouth

Dartmouth, Devon

Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...

, and from that date to 1878 recorder of Bath. For some years he was a revising barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

, and in December 1872 became a commissioner for hearing municipal election petitions. Mr. Richard Assheton Cross

R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross

Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross, GCB, GCSI, PC, FRS , known before his elevation to the peerage as R. A. Cross, was a British statesman and Conservative politician...

 (later Viscount Cross

Viscount Cross

Viscount Cross, of Broughton-in-Furness in the County of Lancaster, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1886 for the Conservative politician Sir R. A. Cross. His eldest son the Hon. William Cross represented Liverpool West Derby in Parliament between 1888 and his...

) appointed him a metropolitan police magistrate on 2 September 1878, and he sat at the Thames police-court until his resignation a few days before his death. His decisions were seldom reversed, erring, if at all, on the side of leniency.

He died at Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

 on 28 February 1890, having married, on 16 August 1854, Frances Gregory, daughter of William Galpine of Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...

, by whom he had children - William Edgar Saunders (b 1856) a barrister and author, Edward Francis Saunders(b 1858), Emma Maria Saunders(b 1860), Walter John Tite Saunders(b 1862) a Royal Navy Captain awarded the DSO, George Arthur Slack Saunders (b 1864), Frances Beatrice Saunders (b 1869)

Publications

He was author of:

1. The Law of Assault and Battery, 1841.

2. A Collection of all the Statutes in force relating to Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales, 1843.

3. The Practice of Summary Convictions before Justices of the Peace, 1846.

4. The Administration of Justice Acts and the Act to protect Justices from Vexatious Actions, 2nd ed. 1848.

5. Supplements to Burn's Justice of the Peace, 1848, 1849, 1851, 3 vols.

6. The Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Acts, 2nd ed. 1849; 3rd ed. 1854.

7. The Law and Practice of Orders of Affiliation and Proceedings in Bastardy, 2nd ed. 1850; 7th ed. 1878; and the 8th and 9th ed. with his son W. E. Saunders, 1884 and 1888.

8. The Militia Act, with Notes and Index, 1852; 3rd ed. 1855.

9. The Duties and Liabilities of Justices of the Peace, 1852.

10. The Law and Practice of Municipal Registration and Election, 1854; 2nd ed. 1873.

11. The Practice of Magistrates' Courts, 1st ed. 1855 (forming vol. i. of The Complete Practice of the Laws of England); 2nd ed. 1858; 4th ed. 1873.

12. The Counties Police Acts, 1856; 2nd ed. 1859.

13. The Rise and Progress of Criminal Jurisprudence in England, 1858.

14. The Refreshment Houses and Wine Licenses Act, 1860.

15. The Union Assessment Committee Act, 1862.

16. Quarter and Petty Sessions: a Letter to Sir George Grey, 1863.

17. Statistics of Crime and Criminals in England, 1864.

18. The Prison Act of 1865, 1865.

19. A Treatise upon the Law applicable to Negligence, London, 1871; Cincinnati, 1872.

20. Precedents of Indictments, 1872; 2nd ed., with W. E. Saunders, 1889.

21. A Treatise on the Law of Warranties, 1874.

22. The Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879.

23. The Public Health Act, 1875.

24. Municipal Corporations Act, 1882.

With R. G. Welford, Saunders compiled Reports of Cases in the Law of Real Property, 1846. With Henry Thomas Cole, Saunders compiled Bail Court Reports, 1847–1849, 2 vols. With E. W. Cox, Saunders compiled Reports of County Court Cases’ 1852, and The Criminal Law Consolidation Acts, 1861 (2nd edit. 1862, 3rd edit. 1870). With his son W. E. Saunders, Saunders compiled The Law as applicable to the Criminal Offences of Children and Young Persons, 1887.

He edited Chitty's Summary of the Offices and Duties of Constables, 3rd edit. 1844; The Magistrate's Year Book, 1860; Oke's Magisterial Formulist, 5th ed. 1876 (6th ed. 1881); and Oke's Magisterial Synopsis, 12th ed. 1876 (13th ed. 1881).