Peter King, 1st Baron King, (c. 1669 – 22 July 1734), commonly referred to as Lord King, was an English lawyer and politician, who became Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Life

King was born in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

in 1669, and educated at

Exeter Grammar School Exeter School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. The younger year groups are based at Exeter Pre-Prep School in Exminster, which was pr ...

. In his youth he was interested in early church history, and published anonymously in 1691 ''An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first Three Hundred Years after Christ''. This treatise engaged the interest of his cousin,

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

, the

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

, by whose advice his father sent him to the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, where he stayed for nearly three years. He entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1694 and 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 ...

in 1698. In 1700 he was returned to

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

as the member for Bere Alston in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, holding the seat until 1715. He was appointed recorder of

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

in 1705 and recorder of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1708. Made a Serjeant-at-Law, he was appointed

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

from 1714 to 1725, when he was raised to the peerage as a Lord Justice and Speaker of the House of Lords. In June of the same year he was made Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, holding office until compelled by a

paralytic Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, ...

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

to resign in 1733. He was admitted a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

on 14 November 1728. He died at Ockham,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, on 22 July 1734 and was buried in All Saints' Church. In 1735, the King Chapel was added to the church, separated from the main aisle by a round headed, and there is a vaulted plaster ceiling springing from angle pilasters. Intended as a chapel over the family vault of the Lords King of Ockham and their descendants, the Earls of Lovelace, it features several

church monument Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the death, dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, a ...

s, including the monument to Peter King, 1st Baron King, and his wife Anne Seys, which was sculpted by Michael Rysbrack. It is on the north wall, white marble in Palladian style, with two figures sitting either side of large urn in front of pyramidal ground. Symbols of office surround Lord King.All Saints' Church, Ockham, Surrey
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Family

King married Anne Seys in 1704. They had six children: two daughters and four sons. Each of their sons succeeded in turn as Lord King, Baron of Ockham. After his death in 1734, the widowed Lady King lived in

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

until her death in 1767. In 1835 his great-great-grandson William King (1805–1893), married Ada Byron, the only daughter of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

and was later created Earl of Lovelace. Another descendant Peter John Locke King was a Member of Parliament for Surrey from 1847 to 1849 and won some fame as an advocate of reform, being responsible for the passing of the Real Estate Charges Act 1854, and for the repeal of a large number of obsolete laws.

Assessment as Lord Chancellor

Lord King as chancellor failed to sustain the reputation which he had acquired at the common law bar. Nevertheless, he left his mark on English law by establishing the principles that a will of immovable property is governed by the '' lex loci rei sitae'', and that where a husband had a legal right to the personal estate of his wife, which must be asserted by a suit in equity, the court would not help him unless he made a provision out of the property for the wife, if she required it. He was also the author of the Act ( Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730) by virtue of which English superseded

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as the language of the courts.

Works

Lord King published in 1702 a ''History of the Apostles' Creed'' (Leipzig, 1706; Basel, 1750) which went through several editions and was also translated into Latin. His earlier work ''An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first Three Hundred Years after Christ'' was published 1691 and was quoted by ''

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

'' in many of his correspondences and is seen as influencing many of his view on the order of the Church.

Cases

Some notable cases on which he was involved: *'' R v Woodburne and Coke'' *''

Keech v Sandford is a foundational case, deriving from English trusts law, on the fiduciary duty of loyalty. It concerns the law of trusts and has affected much of the thinking on directors' duties in company law. It holds that a trustee owes a strict duty of ...

'' (1726) Sel Cas Ch 61 *'' Coppin v Coppin'' (1725) – a will settling land in England must conform to the rules of English law, even when made abroad *'' Croft v Pyke'' (1733) – a partner's joint estate is liable first to the debts of the partnership, before payment of legacies to heirs *'' Milner v Colmer'' (1731) *'' Brown et Uxor v Elton'' (1733) – the practice of the court was to compel a husband to make a settlement on the wife before recovering his wife's portion by equity Spoke in support of the second article brought against Henry Sacheverell, February 28, 1709/10 – 'Tryal of Dr.Sacheverell' printed London 1710

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Peter King, 1st Baron 1660s births 1734 deaths People educated at Exeter School Members of the Middle Temple Serjeants-at-law (England) Chief justices of the common pleas Lord chancellors of Great Britain Lord High Stewards Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain 1 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston Leiden University alumni