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Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough, (16 November 1750 – 13 December 1818), was an English judge. After serving as a member of parliament and
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, he became Lord Chief Justice.


Early life

Law was born at
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, in
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, of which place his father, Edmund Law (1703–1787), afterwards
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. The see is in the city of Car ...
, was at the time rector. His mother was Mary Christian, daughter of John Christan of Ewanrigg, Cumberland. Educated at the Charterhouse and at
Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...
, 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 holy orders, he chose the legal profession, and on quitting the university was entered at
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the 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.) Lincoln ...
.


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 Hastings in the celebrated impeachment trial before the House of Lords, and the ability with which he conducted the defence was universally recognised. He was made a
King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
that year. In 1798, he was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. 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 Pitt most commonly refers to: *The University of Pittsburgh, commonly known as Pitt, a university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States **Pitt Panthers, the athletic teams of the University of Pittsburgh * Pitt (surname), a surname o ...
. On the formation of the
Addington Addington may refer to: Places In Australia: * Addington, Victoria In Canada: * Addington, Ontario * Addington County, Ontario (now Lennox and Addington County, Ontario) * Addington Highlands, Ontario * Addington Parish, New Brunswick * Adding ...
ministry in 1801, he was appointed
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and shortly afterwards was returned to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Newtown in the Isle of Wight. He was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in the same year. In 1802 he succeeded Lord Kenyon as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. On being raised to the bench he was created Baron Ellenborough, of
Ellenborough Ellenborough could refer to: * Ellenborough, Cumbria, England * Ellenborough, New South Wales, Australia * Ellenborough Park, Weston-super-Mare, a park in Somerset, England * Baron Ellenborough Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County ...
, in the County in Cumberland, taken from the village where his maternal ancestors had long held a small patrimony. In 1803, he presided over the treason trial of Colonel Edward Despard. In denying the jury's motion for clemency (following the character witness of Vice-Admiral Nelson) Lord Ellenborough emphasised the revolutionary nature of Despard's purpose. It was, he claimed, not only to rend the new union between Great Britain and Ireland, but also to affect "the forcible reduction to one common level of all the advantages of property, of all civil and political rights whatsoever". Later that same year, 1803, he was appointed to the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...
. In 1803, he introduced a bill to Parliament which went on to 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 death of William Pitt the Younger, Lord Ellenborough served as
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
for two weeks ''ad interim''. 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 criticised 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, 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 Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...
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. On the other hand, his humane and enlightened judgment in ''R. v. Inhabitants of Eastbourne'' that destitute French refugees in England have a fundamental human right to be given sufficient means to enable them to live, has been much praised and frequently followed. In the field of copyright, his judgment in ''Cary v Kearsley''(1802) 4 Esp. 168 that " a man may fairly adopt part of the work of another for the promotion of science.....one must not put manacles on science" was extremely influential in developing the doctrine of fair use. He resigned his judicial office in November 1818, and died shortly after.


Family

Lord Ellenborough married, on 17 October 1789, Ann Towry (1769–1843), the daughter of George Phillips Towry of Foliejon Park at Winkfield in Berkshire and his wife, Elizabeth. They had five sons and five daughters who survived infancy: *Hon. Elizabeth Susan (d. 31 March 1883) married
Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester Admiral Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester PC (12 March 1798 – 18 October 1867), known as Charles Abbot before 1829, was a British naval commander and Conservative politician. Background and education Colchester was the son of Charles Abbo ...
. They had one son, Reginald *Hon. Anne (d. 30 May 1852) married Adm. John Colville, 9th Lord Colville. They had no children. *Hon. Mary Frederica (d. 16 September 1851) married Lt.-Gen. Thomas Dyneley on 10 July 1827. They had no known children. *Hon. Frederica Selina (d. 16 April 1879) married Capt. Henry James Ramsden, son of
Sir John Ramsden, 4th Baronet Sir John Ramsden, 4th Baronet (1755 – 15 July 1839) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. Early life He was born in 1755 and was the only son of Margaret (née Norton) Bright and Sir John Ramsden, 3rd Baronet of Byram, near Pont ...
. They had five sons and four daughters. * Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (8 September 1790 – 22 December 1871) *Hon. Charles Ewan (14 June 1792 – 13 August 1850) *Hon. Henry Spencer (10 May 1802 – 15 July 1885) *Hon. William Towry (16 June 1809 – 31 October 1886) was married twice. Firstly to Hon. Augusta Champagne Graves, daughter of
Thomas Graves, 2nd Baron Graves Thomas North Graves, 2nd Baron Graves (28 May 1775 – 7 February 1830) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Graves was the son of Admiral Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves. He succeeded his father as second Baron Graves in 1802, but as thi ...
, on 15 March 1831. Two years after her death he married secondly, Matilda Montgomery, daughter of Sir Conyngham Montgomery, 1st Baronet, on 25 January 1846. He had five sons, one daughter with Augusta and two more sons and a daughter with Matilda. *Hon. Frances Henrietta (11 February 1812 – 2 March 1894) married twice. Firstly, Charles Des Voeux, son of Sir Charles Des Voeux, 2nd Baronet, on 8 March 1832. Charles died a little over a year later, and Frances married secondly Sir Robert Dallas, 2nd Baronet, on 29 September 1841. With Sir Robert, she had at least one daughter. He was succeeded as second baron by his eldest son, Edward, later the Earl of Ellenborough; another son, Charles, was Recorder of London and Member of Parliament for Cambridge University UK 1835 until his death. 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 Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the C ...
. 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.


Footnotes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellenborough, Edward Law, 1st Baron 1750 births 1818 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Lord chief justices of England and Wales Knights Bachelor Peers of the United Kingdom created by George III Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Law, Edward Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Inner Temple Law, Edward Law, Edward UK MPs who were granted peerages
Edward 1 Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...
People from Great Salkeld