Josiah William Smith (3 April 1816 – 10 April 1887) was an English barrister, legal writer and judge.

Life

The only child of the Rev. John Smith, Rector of St Mary's church in

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, he was born on 3 April 1816, and graduated LL.B. from

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, 1841. He 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 ...

on 9 November 1836, where 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 6 May 1841, and mainly practised in the

court of chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

. Becoming

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 25 February 1861, Smith was chosen a bencher of Lincoln's Inn on 13 March following, and in September 1865 became county-court judge for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

(circuit No. 27). He resented being overruled by a superior court, and on one occasion declared his reason for not giving leave to appeal to be that if he was overruled the court would be deciding contrary to law and justice. This remark earned him a rebuke from the Court of Queen's Bench. Smith, who was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Herefordshire, retired from the bench on a pension in February 1879. He died at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

on 10 April 1887, and was buried at Baldock.

Works

Smith was best known as the author of the ''Manual of Equity'' (1845), ''Compendium of the Law of Real and Personal Property'' (1855), and ''Manual of Common Law and Bankruptcy'' (1864). These standard works went through many editions. He was the draughtsman of the ''Consolidated General Orders of the High Court of Chancery'' (1860), and also edited

Charles Fearne Charles Fearne (1742–1794) was an English jurist. Life The son of Charles Fearne, judge-advocate of the Admiralty, he was born in London, and was educated at Westminster School. Fearne adopted the legal profession, but devoted time and money t ...

's ''Contingent Remainders'' and John Mitford's ''Chancery Pleadings''. In addition he compiled manuals of devotion and a ''Summary of the Law of Christ'' (1859 and 1860).

Family

Smith married in 1844 Mary, second daughter of George Henry Hicks, M.D., of Baldock. They are buried in the family plot in the churchyard of St Mary's church in Baldock.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Josiah William 1816 births 1887 deaths Burials in Hertfordshire English barristers English legal writers Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English judges County Court judges (England and Wales)