Sheldon Amos (1 June 1835 – 3 January 1886) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

Life and career

Sheldon Amos was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

, the son of lawyer

Andrew Amos The Reverend Andrew Amos MA (20 September 1863 – 2 October 1931) was an English amateur footballer who played for Cambridge University, Old Carthusians, Corinthian and Hitchin Town, as well as making two appearances for the England nationa ...

and his wife, Margaret. He was educated at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, and was called to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

as a member of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1862. He was invited by

F. D. Maurice John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War, interest in Maurice has expanded."Frede ...

to teach at The Working Men's College, with fellow Cambridge graduates and friends

Richard Chevenix Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (Richard Trench until 1873; 9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin write ...

and

J. R. Seeley Sir John Robert Seeley, KCMG (10 September 1834 – 13 January 1895) was an English Liberal historian and political essayist. A founder of British imperial history, he was a prominent advocate for the British Empire, promoting a concept of Grea ...

. J. F. C. Harrison, ''A History of the Working Men's College (1854–1954)'', Routledge Kegan Paul, 1954 In 1869 he was appointed to the chair of

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

in University College, London, and in 1872 became reader under the council of legal education and examiner in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

and history to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Failing health led to his resignation of those offices, and he took a voyage to the South Seas. He resided for a short time at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and finally settled in Egypt, where he practised as an advocate. After the bombardment of Alexandria, and the reorganization of the Egyptian judicature, he was appointed judge of the court of appeal, but being without any previous experience of administrative work he found the strain too great for his health.

Death

He came to England on leave in the autumn of 1885, and on his return to Egypt he died suddenly at Ramleh, near Alexandria, on 3 January 1886.

Family

His wife, Sarah Amos (the former Sarah Maclardie Bunting), took a prominent part in Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist politics and in movements connected with the position of women. The first meeting of what would become the Women's Local Government Society was held at her house and included several of her relatives. The group was led by Annie Leigh Browne and it was deciding suitable women candidates for election. Sarah died at Cairo on 21 January 1908. Their son was Sir Maurice Amos.

Publications

His principal publications are: *''Systematic View of the Science of Jurisprudence'' (1872) * ''Lectures on International Law'' (1873) * ''Science of Law'' (1874) * ''Science of Politics'' (1883) * ''History and Principles of the Civil Law of Rome as Aid to the Study of Scientific and Comparative Jurisprudence'' (1883)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amos, Sheldon 1835 births 1886 deaths English legal writers Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 19th-century English lawyers