Sir George Sowley Holroyd (31 October 1758 – 21 November 1831) was an English lawyer and justice of the King's Bench.

Life

He was eldest son of George Holroyd, by Eleanor, daughter of Henry Sowley of Appleby,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, was born at York on 31 October 1758. He was placed at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

in 1770, but his father lost money and he was unable to go to university. In April 1774 Holroyd was articled to a London attorney named Borthwick, and then entered Gray's Inn in 1777. He read in the chambers of Sir Alan Chambre, and in April 1779 began practice as a special pleader. He at this time associated with

Samuel Romilly Sir Samuel Romilly (1 March 1757 – 2 November 1818), was a British lawyer, politician and legal reformer. From a background in the commercial world, he became well-connected, and rose to public office and a prominent position in Parliament. A ...

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 ...

, and John Baynes, and with them founded a legal debating society. He 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 ...

26 June 1787, and joining the northern circuit, obtained a practice both at assizes and at Westminster. Declining to

take silk 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 ...

, Holroyd continued to practise as a junior. In 1811 he distinguished himself in the case of Burdett v. Abbott, in which he appeared for the plaintiff Sir Francis Burdett, against Charles Abbott, Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1815 he was sent as commissioner to

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

to inquire into grievances. On 14 February 1816 Holroyd succeeded

Sir Henry Dampier ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

as a judge of the king's bench. On 17 November 1828 poor health compelled him to retire, and he died at his house at Hare Hatch,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, 21 November 1831. There was a monument to him in Wargrave Church, with an inscription by

Lord Brougham Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, (; 19 September 1778 – 7 May 1868) was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor and played a prominent role in passing the 1832 Reform Act and 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. ...

Family

In 1787 Holroyd married Sarah, daughter of Amos Chaplin of Brydges Street, Covent Garden, London. Of his fourteen children by her, six survived him. British author Sir Michael Holroyd is Sir George's direct descendant, through his son, George Chaplin Holroyd (1790-1871).Venn, J. A., comp., ''Alumni Cantabrigienses''. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922-1954. For more information about this family, see Holroyd M., ''Basil Street Blues: A Family Story''. Little, Brown, 1999.

References

''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

Notes

;Attribution 1758 births 1831 deaths English barristers 19th-century English judges People educated at Harrow School Members of Gray's Inn {{UK-law-bio-stub