Robert Campbell Scarlett, 2nd Baron Abinger DL (5 September 1794 – 24 June 1861), was a British barrister-at-law and politician.

Background and early life

Born 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 ...

, he was the oldest son of

James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger (13 December 1769 – 17 April 1844), was an England, English lawyer, politician and judge. Early life James Scarlett was born in Jamaica, where his father, Robert Scarlett, had property. In the summer of 1785 h ...

, and his first wife, third daughter of Peter Campbell. In 1844, he succeeded his father as baron. Scarlett was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1815, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

three years later, when he was called to the bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. In 1837, Lord Abinger was the presiding exchequer judge in the case of Priestley v Fowler which introduced the now abandoned legal rule of

common employment Common employment was an historical defence in English tort law that said workers implicitly undertook the risks of being injured by their co-workers, with whom they were in "common employment". The US labor law terminology was the "fellow servant ...

Political career

In 1835, he entered the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

, representing

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

until 1838. He sat again for

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

from 1841 until 1844, when his father died. Scarlett was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Inverness-shire in 1854.

Family

He married Sarah Smith, second daughter of George Smith,

Chief Justice of Mauritius The Supreme Court of Mauritius is the highest court of Mauritius and is the final court of appeal in the Mauritian judicial system. It was established in its current form in 1850, replacing the ''Cour d'Appel'' established in 1808 during the Fren ...

, in 1824, and they had at least one son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who succeeded his father as third Baron.

References

*"Abinger, Baron (Scarlett) (Baron UK 1835)." Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 1995. London: Debrett's Peerage Limited, 1995. pp. 8–9.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abinger, Robert Scarlett, 2nd Baron 1794 births 1861 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English barristers Deputy Lieutenants of Inverness-shire Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs who inherited peerages Robert 2 Eldest sons of British hereditary barons