Sir John Silvester, 1st Baronet (7 September 1745 – 30 March 1822), FRS, FSA, DCL, was an English lawyer and

Common Serjeant of London The Common Serjeant of London (full title The Serjeant-at-Law in the Common Hall) is an ancient British legal office, first recorded in 1291, and is the second most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court after the Recorder of Lon ...

from 1790 to 1803, and

Recorder of London The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

from 1803 until his death in 1822. Born in Yardley House in

Chingford Chingford is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The town is approximately north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walthamstow to the ...

, Silvester was the son of Sir John Baptist Silvester

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

, FRS (died 1789), of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

descent and physician to the army in the Low Countries, under the

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedo ...

during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

. In 1753 aged 8 John Silvester attended Merchant Taylors' School when

James Townley Rev. James Townley (6 May 1714 – 15 July 1778) was an English dramatist, the second son of Charles Townley, a merchant. Early life, education and marriage Townley was born in 1714 probably at Tower Hill, London, the second son of Charles Town ...

was the Headmaster. He took part in the theatrical activities encouraged by Townley and was Head Monitor in 1761. He attended

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, from 1764 and took his BCL in 1771. On qualifying in the Law he became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

. Originally a City Common Pleader, in 1790 he was chosen by the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

to take up the post of

, and, on the death of Sir

John William Rose John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

in 1803 he was appointed

, the senior judge at the

. As Common Serjeant Silvester was regarded as "uncouth and overly severe". He was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1780; in 1804 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was appointed Steward of Southwark. Silvester was the Commissioner of the Court of Lieutenancy of the City of London. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 27 December 1814,''The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle''
Volume 92, Part 1 (1822) ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

'' and was awarded the DCL of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1818. Silvester married twice, but had no children. On his death in 1822 his baronetcy passed to his nephew,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Philip Carteret Silvester Sir Philip Carteret Silvester (1777–1828) was a captain in the Royal Navy He was the son of Rear-admiral Philip Carteret, the circumnavigator, by his wife Mary Rachel, daughter of Sir John Baptist Silvester, M.D., F.R.S. (d. 1789), a Frenchman ...

, RN, CB. His body was taken from his home in

Bloomsbury Square Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, Be ...

to be buried with his family at All Saints Church in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. His bust was sculpted by

Robert William Sievier Robert William Sievier FRS (24 July 1794 – 28 April 1865) was a notable British engraver, sculptor and later inventor of the 19th century. Engraver and sculptor Sievier showed an early talent for drawing, and studied under John Young and Ed ...

and was displayed in the

but later moved to the Mansion House. He was succeeded as Recorder of London by

Newman Knowlys Newman Knowlys (1758– 5 January 1836) was an English barrister and judge and the Common Serjeant of London and Recorder of London. Knowlys was born in London, the fourth son of William Knowlys, a merchant of London. He was educated at Botesd ...

In popular culture

*Silvester is mentioned, though does not appear, in

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

's novel ''

Gallows Thief ''Gallows Thief'' (2001) is a historical mystery novel by Bernard Cornwell set in London, England in the year 1817, which uses capital punishment as its backdrop. The story concerns an amateur investigator hired to rubber-stamp the death senten ...

'', during his tenure as Recorder of London and senior Circuit Judge, in 1817. *Silvester was played by

Aidan McArdle Aidan McArdle (born 1970) is an Irish actor. Early life McArdle was born in Dublin. He studied for an Arts degree at University College Dublin before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. Career First r ...

in the 2009-2011

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

television series ''

Garrow's Law ''Garrow's Law'' is a British period legal drama about the 18th-century lawyer William Garrow. The series debuted on 1 November 2009 on BBC One and BBC HD. A second series was announced on 7 July 2010 and was broadcast from 14 November 2010. A th ...

References

External links

Prints of Sir John Silvester
from the collection of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvester, John 1745 births 1822 deaths People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London English barristers English lawyers Common Serjeants of London Recorders of London Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom