Ewan Law (1747 – 24 April 1829) was a British politician, MP for Westbury (1795–1800) and Newtown (1802). He was baptised on 30 October 1747, the son of

Edmund Law Edmund Law (6 June 1703 – 14 August 1787) 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 ...

, later

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 ...

and Mary Chistian. Entering the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in 1763, Law rose through the ranks, joining the council in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

in 1770, becoming junior merchant in 1772, senior merchant in 1776, and company chief in Patna in 1777. He returned to the UK in 1780, and retired in 1782. He had numerous connections in British India: his brother

Thomas Law Thomas John Law (born 17 December 1992) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor, playing Peter Beale in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2006 to 2010. He was the fifth actor to reprise the role, followed by Ben Ha ...

was an East India Company official; his wife's brother William Markham was Private Secretary to Governor-General

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

; a sister married Sir

Thomas Rumbold Sir Thomas Rumbold, 1st Baronet (15 January 1736 – 11 November 1791) was a British administrator in India and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1770 and 1790. He served as Governor of Madras from 1777 to 1780. He became infamou ...

, Governor of Madras; his nephew

Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, (8 September 1790 – 22 December 1871) 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 ...

later became Governor-General. Elected MP for Westbury in

1790 Events January–March * January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City. * January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took p ...

, Law spoke against the

Impeachment of Warren Hastings The impeachment of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal, was attempted between 1787 and 1795 in the Parliament of Great Britain. Hastings was accused of misconduct during his time in Calcutta, particularly relating to mismanageme ...

(his brother Edward Law was senior counsel for Hastings' defence), believing Hastings to be "honest and honourable" and condemning the conduct of the trial as "a libel on British justice" on 6 June 1793. He vacated the seat in January 1795. In 1802 Law's brother Sir Edward Law was appointed Lord Chief Justice and ennobled as Lord Ellenborough, therefore vacating his seat at MP for Newtown. Law succeeded him, elected unopposed in a by-election on 5 May 1802, but there was a delay in his taking his seat, caused by his name being spelled wrongly ("Evan" rather than "Ewan") in the election return. He held the seat until the 1802 general election. He served on the Commission of Naval Enquiry appointed to investigate malpractice in the navy 1802–05, but he was then in ill health, and could not attend regularly. In 1804 he wrote that attendance was "too much for me", and anticipated keenly that the enquiry would be ended. He died on 24 April 1829.

Family

Law's brothers were Bishop

John Law John Law may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist *John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner *John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director * John Law (musician) (born 1961), B ...

(1745–1810); Lord Chief Justice

Lord Ellenborough Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County of Cumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1802 for the lawyer, judge and politician Sir Edward Law, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench from ...

(1750–1818);

(1756–1834), a property investor in Washington, D.C.; and Bishop

George Henry Law George Henry Law (12 September 1761 – 22 September 1845) was the Bishop of Chester (1812) and then, from 1824, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Born at the lodge of Peterhouse, Cambridge, of which his father Edmund Law (who later became Bishop of ...

(1761–1845). On 28 June 1784, Law married Henrietta Sarah Markham, daughter of William Markham,

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 ...

. They had the following children: * Harriette Law * Maria Law, married

Sir George Clerk Sir George Russell Clerk (pronounced ''Clark''; – 25 July 1889) was a British civil servant in British India. Life Clerk was born at Worting House in Mortimer West End, Hampshire,''1851 England Census'' the son of John Clerk of Glouces ...

of Pennycuik * William John Law, barrister * Edward Law, clergyman * Elizabeth Frederica Law, married Rev. Peter Guerin Crofts * George Ewan Law * Cecilia Anne Law, married Rev. John Barlow

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Ewan 1747 births 1829 deaths British MPs 1790–1796 UK MPs 1801–1802 Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight