Sir Henry Manisty (13 December 1808 – 31 January 1890) was an English barrister and judge.

Life

Manisty was born at Vicarage House, Edlingham,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, the second son of James Manisty, BD, vicar of Edlingham, and his wife Eleanor, only daughter of Francis Forster of Seaton Burn Hall, Northumberland. He was educated at Durham Cathedral grammar school, and was articled when still young in the offices of Thorpe & Dickson, attorneys, of

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

, Northumberland. Manisty was admitted a solicitor in 1830, and practised for twelve years as a member of the firm of Meggison, Pringle, & Manisty, of 3

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. On 20 April 1842 he became a student of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, and 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 ...

on 23 April 1845. He became a bencher there in 1859, and treasurer in 1861. Joining the Northern circuit, Manisty built a large practice, and was made

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

on 7 July 1857; he appeared mainly in

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

and circuit cases. In 1876, when

Mr Justice Blackburn Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn, (18 May 1813 – 8 January 1896) was a Scotland, Scottish judge who is remembered as one of the greatest exponents of the common law. At one point, Blackburn was a judge in the Court of Exchequer Chamber. On 16 ...

was made a

law lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, Manisty was appointed to the High Court (

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

) at the unusually advanced age of 67, and was

knight 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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed. Among his decisions were judgments in ''Regina v. Bishop of Oxford'' (1879), ''Belt v. Lawes'' (1881), '' Wennhak v Morgan'' (1888), Wennhak v Morgan (1888) 20 QBD 635 at 639. ''Adams v. Coleridge'' (1891), and ''O'Brien v. Lord Salisbury'' (1889). Manisty had a stroke in court on 24 January 1890, and died on 31 January at his home 24a

Bryanston Square Bryanston Square is an garden square in Marylebone, London. Terraced buildings surround it — often merged, converted or sub-divided, some of which remain residential. The southern end has the William Pitt Byrne memorial fountain. Next t ...

, London, He was buried on 5 February at

Kensal Green cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

. '' Vanity Fair'' described him as ""a rather peevish, old-fashioned, careful Judge, who takes laborious notes of his cases; consequently he is slow; but he seldom speaks, and when he does so he generally speaks to the point."

Family

In August 1831 Manisty married Constantia, fifth daughter of Patrick Dickson, solicitor of Berwick-on-Tweed; she died on 9 August 1836. In May 1838 he remarried Mary Ann, third daughter of Robert Stevenson, surgeon, of Berwick-on-Tweed, with whom he had four sons and three daughters. His fourth son, Herbert Francis Manisty, was Attorney-General of the County Palatine of Durham from 1915 to 1939.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Manisty, Henry 1808 births 1890 deaths English solicitors English barristers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Knights Bachelor 19th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Members of Gray's Inn 19th-century English judges