James Thomas Law (1790–1876) was an English cleric, the chancellor of the

diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

from 1821.

Life

He was eldest son of

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 ...

, the

bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

, and Jane, daughter of General

James Whorwood Adeane James Whorwood Adeane (1740 – 15 April 1802), of Babraham, Cambridgeshire and Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, was an English Tory politician. He was the only son of Simon Adeane of Chalgrove and Mary Brydges, niece of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chan ...

, MP, of

Babraham Babraham is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about south-east of Cambridge on the A1307 road. Babraham is home to the Babraham Institute which undertakes research into cell and molecula ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. He was educated at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, graduated B.A. in 1812 as second senior optime, and was chosen fellow of the college. He took holy orders in 1814, and proceeded

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1815. On 9 April 1818 Law was made

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Sain ...

, and on 18 July following prebendary of

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

. In 1821 he was appointed chancellor of the diocese of Lichfield, in 1824 commissary of the archdeaconry of Richmond, and in 1840 special commissary of the

diocese 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 ...

. Law supported the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery at

Queen's College, Birmingham Queen's College was a medical school in central Birmingham, England, and a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham. It was founded by surgeon William Sands Cox in 1825 as The Birmingham Medical School, a residential college for medi ...

, of which he was elected honorary warden in 1846, and the

Lichfield Theological College Lichfield Theological College was founded in 1857 to train Anglican clergy to serve in the Church of England. It was located on the south side of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, Staffordshire and closed in 1972. Notable staff * Cecil Cherrin ...

. He was master of St John's Hospital, Lichfield. Law was a benefactor to the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

. In 1838 he gave the statue of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

in the Market Square. Chancellor Law's Fountain in

Beacon Park Beacon Park is a public park in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. The park was created in 1859 when the Museum Gardens were laid out adjacent to the newly built Free Museum and Library. The park has si ...

was unveiled in 1871. Law died at Lichfield on 22 February 1876. The monument to Law and his wife in the churchyard of St Michael on Greenhill, Lichfield is a listed building; it originally had a clock illuminated by gas. St Michaels Mausoleum

Works

Law published, with charges and pamphlets: * ''A Catechetical Exposition of the Apostles' Creed'', London, 1825. * ''The Poor Man's Garden, or a few brief Rules for Regulating Allotments of Land to the Poor for Potatoe Gardens'', London, 1830; 4th edit. 1831. * ''The Acts for Building and Promoting the Building of Additional Churches in Populous Parishes arranged and harmonised'', London, 1841; 3rd edit. 1853. * ''The Ecclesiastical Statutes at large, extracted from the great body of the Statute Law and arranged under separate heads'', 5 vols. London, 1847. * ''Lectures on the Ecclesiastical Law of England'', pt. i. London, 1861. * ''Lectures on the Office and Duties of Churchwardens'', London, 1861. * ''Materials for a Brief History of ... Queen's College, Birmingham; with a Supplement and Appendices, arranged by Mr. Chancellor Law'', Lichfield, 1869. Law also published ''Forms of Ecclesiastical Law'', London, 1831 (another edit. 1844); it was a translation of the first part of

Thomas Oughton Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

's ''Ordo Judiciorum'',. There were with it materials from other jurists and authorities: Francis Clerke's ''Praxis''; Henry Conset's ''Practice of the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Courts'';

John Ayliffe John Ayliffe, LL.D. (1676–1732) was an English jurist, expelled from the University of Oxford in a high-profile controversy. Early life Ayliffe was born at Pember, Hampshire, in 1676. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxfo ...

's ''Parergon''; William Cockburn's ''Clerk's Assistant in the Practice of the Ecclesiastical Courts''; and

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's Coll ...

's ''Codex juris ecclesiastici Anglicani''.

Family

On 16 December 1820 Grey married Lady Henrietta Charlotte Grey (1799–1866), eldest daughter of

George Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford George Harry Booth-Grey, 6th Earl of Stamford and 2nd Earl of Warrington (31 October 1765 – 26 April 1845), styled Lord Grey from 1768 to 1819, was a British peer and parliamentarian. Booth-Grey was the eldest son of George Grey, 5th Ea ...

. They had four children.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, James Thomas 1790 births 1876 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English writers Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge English male writers

James Thomas James Thomas may refer to: Politicians * James Thomas (Australian politician) (1826–1884), civil engineer who was Director of Public Works in Western Australia, 1876–1884 * James Thomas (Governor of Maryland) (1785–1845), served as the 23rd ...