Sir Edward Vaughan Williams (6 June 1797 – 2 November 1875) was a British judge.

Life

Born

Blithfield Blithfield is a civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It includes the settlements of Admaston, Staffordshire, Admaston (a small hamlet in Staffordshire), Newton, Staffordshire, Newton along with Blithfield ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

,''1861 England Census'' he was the eldest surviving son of Welsh barrister

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

. He was educated first at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

from 1808, but moved to

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

in 1811. He entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, as a scholar in 1816, and graduated B.A. 1820 and M.A. 1824. On leaving Cambridge, Williams entered

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 ...

as a student, and, after reading in the chambers of John Patteson and then with John Campbell, was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 17 June 1823. He first joined the

Oxford Circuit The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

, where he soon found work; but when South Wales was detached and became an independent circuit, he travelled on that and the Chester Circuit. In October 1846, Williams was made a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

court of common pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and received knighthood on 4 February 1847. Some of his major judgments were in the following cases: ''Earl of Shrewsbury v. Scott'', 6 CB. NS. 1 (

Roman Catholic disabilities Disabilities were legal restrictions and limitations placed on the Roman Catholics of England since the issuance of the Act of Supremacy in 1534. These disabilities were first sanctioned by the Penal Laws, enacted under the reigns of Henry VIII a ...

); ''Behn v. Burness'', 1 B. & S. 877 (warranties in charter parties); ''Johnson v. Stear'', 15 CB. NS. 30 (measures of damages in trover); and ''Spence v. Spence'', 31 L. J. C. P. 189 (application of

Rule in Shelley's Case The Rule in ''Shelley's Case'' is a rule of law that may apply to certain future interests in real property and trusts created in common law jurisdictions.Moynihan, Cornelius, ''Introduction to the Law of Real Property'', 3d Edition, West Grou ...

). Williams retired from the bench in 1865 owing to increasing deafness; and was created a privy councillor and a member of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

. He died on 2 November 1875 at 24

Queen Anne's Gate Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early 18th century houses as “the best of thei ...

, Westminster, which had been his home since 1836. He was buried at Wotton, near

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

. A scholar and man of letters, he associated with Dean Milman,

William Buckland William Buckland Doctor of Divinity, DD, Royal Society, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full ...

, Richard Trench, and

Henry George Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is now named after ...

. A portrait of the judge in oils, by

James Sant James Sant (1820–1916) was a British painter specialising in portraits and known particularly for images of women and children and artistic exploration of the symbolism of childhood. He was a member of the Royal Academy. George Sant and Sara ...

, passed into the possession of the family.

Works

In 1824, with John Patteson, he brought out a fifth edition of his father's notes on ''

Saunders's Reports Sir Edmund Saunders (died 1683) was an English judge, promoted to a high position at the end of the reign of Charles II of England. Early life He was born of poor parents in the parish of Barnwood, near Gloucester. According to Roger North, he ...

'' and established his reputation in common-law learning. In 1832 appeared the first edition of Williams's ''Treatise on the Law of Executors and Administrators''; with seven editions during its author's lifetime, it became a standard authority. Williams also edited

Richard Burn Richard Burn (1709 – 12 November 1785) was an English legal writer. Education and career Burn was born in Winton, Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland. He matriculated at The Queen's College, Oxford in 1729. He was not awarded his B.A. until 1735, t ...

's ''Justice of the Peace'' in conjunction with Serjeant D'Oyley in 1836, and ''Saunders's Reports'' in 1845 and 1871.

Family

He married, in 1826, Jane Margaret, eighth daughter of the Rev. Walter Bagot, brother to

William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot (28 February 1728 – 22 October 1798), known as Sir William Bagot, 6th Baronet, from 1768 to 1780, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to ...

, by whom he left six sons. His fifth son,

Roland Vaughan Williams Sir Roland Bowdler Lomax Vaughan Williams (31 December 1838 – 8 December 1916) was an English lawyer and judge. From 1897 to 1914 he was a Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal. He was an authority on the laws of bankruptcy, and wrote a book tha ...

, became lord justice of appeal in 1897. His grandson was the composer

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Edward Vaughan 1797 births 1875 deaths English barristers 19th-century English judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Knights Bachelor Justices of the Common Pleas People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn