Philip Seaforth James (28 May 1914 – 5 May 2001) was an English barrister, academic, author and soldier.

Early life

James was born in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. He was the son of Dr. Philip William James MC, a doctor in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

, and his wife Muriel Lindley Rankin, the daughter of Alfred Mottram Rankin of Broomhills,

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 ...

and New Hall, Sutton. His paternal grandfather was the anglican cleric Canon Mark James. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

, Surrey, followed by Trinity College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts degree. After leaving Oxford, he was appointed as a research fellow at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. After which 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 ...

at The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, where he practiced. After the Inner Temple, James attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, passing out as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 1938, into the Army Reserve. He served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the Royal Regiment of Artillery in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on 14 December 1943. By the end of the war, James held the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He continued in the Territorial Army following the war and retired on 28 May 1964. On his retirement he was confirmed in the honorary rank of major.

Legal and academic career

Following the war, James retired from the army and was appointed

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 ...

and tutor of law at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1946. Whilst at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

he taught a number of pupils, including

Peter Crill Sir Peter Leslie Crill (1 February 1925 – 3 October 2005) was Bailiff of Jersey from 1986 to 1991. Early years Crill attended Victoria College, Jersey between 1932 and 1943. He started work, during the German occupation of Jersey, for th ...

William Lederman William Ralph Lederman, (January 6, 1916 – July 26, 1992) was a Canadian constitutional scholar and the first dean of Queen's University Faculty of Law. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, he received a LL.B. from the University of Saskatchewan i ...

Christopher Davidge Christopher Guy Vere Davidge, of Little Houghton House, OBE DL (5 November 1929 – 22 December 2014) was a British rower who competed in the Summer Olympics three times in 1952, 1956 and 1960 and won the Silver Goblets at Henley Royal Regatta ...

Sydney Kentridge Sir Sydney Woolf Kentridge (born 5 November 1922) is a South African-born lawyer, judge and member of the Bar of England and Wales. He practised law in South Africa and the United Kingdom from the 1940s until his retirement in 2013. In South Af ...

and

Maurice Drake Sir Frederick Maurice Drake, DFC (15 February 1923 – 6 April 2014)University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

until being appointed professor and head of the department of law at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, which position he held until 1975. Whilst holding the positions of professor and head of the department of law at Leeds, he was also appointed visiting professor of

and also of the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

in 1962. Also in 1972 he was appointed as professor of the University of South Carolina, in which position he served in until 1973. In 1975 he was appointed professor of law of the

University of Buckingham , mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings , established = 1973; as university college1983; as university , type = Private , endowment = , administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support , chance ...

, and also head of the department of law. He worked at Buckingham until 1989. In 1981 he was appointed professor of the New York Law School and held that position until 1983. At the same time as his academic career, James also held a number of other positions, from 1966 to 1975 he was chairman of the Yorkshire Rent Assessment Panel and of the Thames Valley Rent Assessment Panel from 1976 to 1980. From 1971 to 1972 he was the president of the committee as Assessor to County Court under Race Relations Acts. He was also governor of the Swinton Conservative College from 1961 to 1973.

Publications

* An Introduction to English Law, 1950 (trans. Japanese, 1985), (Thirteen editions, latest edition published: ) * General Principles of the Law of Torts, 1959, (four editions, latest edition published: )For reviews of this book, see G H L Fridman (1960) 23 Modern Law Review 34
JSTOR
J A Jolowicz (1960) 18 Cambridge Law Journal 23
JSTOR
and A Kerr (1980) 15 Irish Jurist (New Series) 18
JSTOR
*Shorter Introduction to English Law, 1969 *Six Lectures on the Law of Torts, 1980 (trans. Spanish) *Along with various other articles, notes and reviews on legal and political subjects

Family

Through his father, James was the grandson of the Rev. Canon Mark James and through him the first cousin of

Sqn Ldr Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Bertram Arthur James, MC. Through his mother, he was the first cousin of Colonel Sir Wilfrid Selwyn Kent Hughes and of his sister, Dr. Ellen Kent Hughes. In 1954 Philip married Wybetty Gerth, daughter of Jhr. Claas Pieter Gerth of

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

an officer in the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

. Philip and Wybetty had two sons: *Dr. Philip Nicholas Lindley James (born 5 May 1955), a Doctor of Archaeology and Anthropology at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, married musician

Carole Pegg Carole Pegg, sometimes Carolanne Pegg, is a British folksinger and violinist, and ethnomusicologist. In 1970 Pegg and her husband Bob formed British folk rock band Mr. Fox, which dissolved in 1972 when their marriage ended. In 1973 she released ...

. No issue. *Edward Peter Hilary James (born 26 April 1958), married Mary Philippa Rose Davidge, daughter of Cecil Davidge of Little Houghton House and his wife, Philippa Lester. They had three children together. James died on 5 May 2001, in his house in

Whitfield, Northamptonshire Whitfield is a village and parish in the south-west of the English county of Northamptonshire in the valley of the River Great Ouse which forms the border with Buckinghamshire. Nearby villages include Syresham, Biddlesden, Helmdon and Silver ...

, at the age of 86.

References

*"James, Phillip S(eaforth)"
Contemporary Authors
Gale Research Company. 1975. Page 323.

External links

Encyclopedia.comWho's Who; James, Prof. Philip Seaforth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seaforth James, Philip 1914 births 2001 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford People educated at Charterhouse School Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford British barristers Members of the Inner Temple British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers