Joseph Chitty (12 March 1776 – 17 February 1841) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
and legal
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
, author of some of the earliest practitioners' texts and founder of an important dynasty of lawyers.
Life and practice
He was himself the son of a Joseph Chitty (1729–1795), and his wife, Sarah ''née'' Cartwright. He initially practised as a
special pleader
A special pleader was a historical legal occupation. The practitioner, or "special pleader" in English law specialised in drafting "pleadings", in modern terminology statements of case.
History
Up to the 19th century, there were many rules, tech ...
before being
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 ...
by the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
on 28 June 1816. He never became a
KC but built a huge junior practice at
1 Pump Court and published many books.
Chitty was also
pupil master to a generation of lawyers, including:
*
John Walter Hulme
John Walter Hulme was a British lawyer and Judge. He was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, Chief Justice of Hong Kong taking office in 1844.
Early life
Hulme was born in 1805 in Fenton, Staffordshire, England. He was ...
, his co-author and son-in-law, and the first
Chief Justice of Hong Kong
*
Thomas Starkie
Thomas Starkie (2 January 1782 – 15 April 1849) was an English lawyer and jurist. A talented mathematician in his youth, he especially contributed to the unsuccessful attempts to codify the English criminal law in the nineteenth century.
Ea ...
[Lobban (2004)]
*
Edward Hall Alderson
*
Thomas Noon Talfourd
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd SL (26 May 179513 March 1854) was an English judge, Radical politician and author.
Life
The son of a well-to-do brewer, Talfourd was born in Reading, Berkshire. He received his education at Hendon and Reading School. ...
*
Henry Havelock
Major-General Sir Henry Havelock (5 April 1795 – 24 November 1857) was a British general who is particularly associated with India and his recapture of Cawnpore during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (First War of Independence, Sepoy Mutiny).
E ...
.
In fact, at the time, the
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...
were in decline and Chitty organised lectures and
moots, in 1810 being given permission to use the hall of
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 ...
.
Personality and later life
Despite his successful practice, by 1831, Chitty had amassed extensive debts that were costing almost £2,000 per year to service. Further, Chitty's health was in decline and he was becoming increasingly anxious about his parlous state. Much of his energy became taken up in avoiding the attentions of his creditors. He retired from practice in 1833 but continued to publish. He died in
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 ...
and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
Family
He married Elizabeth Woodward, and they had eight children. Of those, Joseph Chitty the younger,
Thomas Chitty,
Edward Chitty, and Thompson Chitty were lawyers and legal writers:
Joseph the younger and Thompson were the first editors of the standard textbook ''
Chitty on Contracts''.
Judge
Joseph William Chitty
Sir Joseph William Chitty (28 May 1828 – 15 February 1899) was an English cricketer, rower, judge and Liberal politician.
Early life
Chitty was born in London, the second son of Thomas Chitty (himself son and brother of well-known lawye ...
was a grandson (son of Thomas Chitty).
Bibliography
By Chitty
*Chitty, T. (1799) ''Treatise on Bills of Exchange''
*— (1808) ''Precedents of Pleading''
*— (1811a) ''Treatise on the Law of Apprentices''
*— (1811b) ''Treatise on the Game Laws''
*— (1812) ''Treatise on the Law of Nations''
*— (1818) ''Treatise on Commercial Law''
*— (1820) ''
Treatise on the Law of the Prerogatives of the Crown''
*— (1826) ''A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law''
*— (1829–37) ''Statutes of Practical Utility''
*— (1833) ''The Practice of the Law in All its Principal Departments''
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitty, Joseph
1775 births
1841 deaths
English lawyers
English legal writers
English male non-fiction writers