The Downing Professorship of the Laws of England is one of the senior

professorships Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. The chair was founded in 1800 as a bequest of Sir George Downing, the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. The professorship was originally attached solely to Downing College (although the Professor undertook University activities). In the early 20th Century, for financial reasons, this professorship, together with the Downing Professor of Medicine, was severed from the College. The original electors of the chair were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, and the masters of the colleges of Clare, St John's and Downing. In 1788

Edward Christian Edward Christian (3 March 1758 – 29 March 1823) was an English judge and law professor. He was the older brother of Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny on the ''Bounty''. Life Edward Christian was one of the three sons of Charles Ch ...

, brother of

Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ''Bounty'' during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ''Bounty'', Christian se ...

, was appointed to the post prior to its official creation 12 years later. The current holder is Lionel Smith, who was elected to the position in 2022.

Downing professors

(1788/1800) #

Thomas Starkie Thomas Starkie (2 January 1782 – 15 April 1849) was an English lawyer and jurist. A talented mathematician in his youth, he especially contributed to the unsuccessful attempts to codify the English criminal law in the nineteenth century. Ea ...

(1823) # Andrew Amos (1849) # William Lloyd Birkbeck (1860) #

Frederic William Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and lawyer who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. Early life and education, 1850–72 Frederic William Maitland was born at 53 Guilford Street, L ...

(1888) # Courtney Stanhope Kenny (1907) #

Harold Dexter Hazeltine Harold Dexter Hazeltine, FBA (1871–1960) was an American legal scholar. Early life and education Born on 18 November 1871 at Warren, Pennsylvania, he was the son of a banker and attended Brown University (graduating with an AB degree in 189 ...

(1919) #

Emlyn Capel Stewart Wade Emlyn Capel Stewart Wade (31 August 1895 – 28 April 1978) was a British constitutional law scholar. He was Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge from 1945 to 1962. Biography The son of Charles Stewart Dougl ...

(1945) # Sir W. Ivor Jennings (1962) # Richard Meredith Jackson (1966) # Stanley Alexander de Smith (1970) # Gareth H. Jones (1975) # Sir John H. Baker (1998) # Dame Sarah Worthington (2011) # Lionel Smith (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of the Laws of England, Downing, Cambridge Laws of England, Downing School of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Cambridge English law 1800 establishments in England Laws of England, Downing, Cambridge