Sir Edward Hyde East, 1st Baronet (9 September 1764 – 8 January 1847) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, legal writer, and
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. He served as
chief justice of
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
from 1813 to 1822. He was the first Principal of Hindu College (later
Hindu School, Kolkata
Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...
). Hyde East was a prominent
slave-owner in
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, where he was born.
Life
Edward Hyde East was born in that island on 9 September 1764. He was the great-grandson of Captain John East (aka Edward East) who was active in the English
conquest of Jamaica. Hyde East owned at least six
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
in Jamaica along with the people
enslaved on them. He became a student of 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 ...
, London, 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 ...
on 10 November 1786. He sat in the parliament of 1792 for
Great Bedwin, and steadily supported
William Pitt.
In 1813 East was chosen to succeed
Sir Henry Russell as chief justice of the supreme court at
Fort William,
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. Before he left England he was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
by the
Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
. Besides performing his judicial duties, he interested himself in Indian education, and was the chief promoter of the
Hindu College
Hindu College may refers to several colleges around the world, including:
India
*Dharmamurthi Rao Bhahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
* Gobardanga Hindu College, West Bengal
* Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradab ...
. When he retired from office in 1822 the Indians presented him with an address and subscribed for a statue of him. This, executed by
Francis Chantrey
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...
, was afterwards placed in the grand-jury room of the supreme court. On his return to the UK, East was made 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 25 April 1823.
East represented
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
in parliament from 1823 to 1831, was sworn of the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, and appointed a member of the judicial committee of that body, in order to assist in the disposal of Indian appeals. He was also chosen a bencher of the Inner Temple and a fellow 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 ...
.
East died at his residence, Sherwood Lodge,
Battersea
Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park.
History
Batter ...
, on 8 January 1847.
Works
East is known as a legal writer mainly for his ''Reports of Cases in the Court of King's Bench from Mich. Term, 26 Geo. III (1785), to Trin. Term, 40 Geo. III (1800)'' (
8vo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
, 5 vols., 1817, by C. Durnford and E. H. East). These were the first law reports published regularly at the end of each term., and so were called the ''Term Reports''. They were continued by East alone in his ''Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench from Mich. Term, 41 Geo. III (1800), to Mich. Term, 53 Geo. III (1812)'', 1801, 1814. There are various American editions of both series. "No English reports", says Marvin, "are oftener cited in American courts than these" (Marvin, p. 282). East also wrote:
# ''Pleas of the Crown; or a General Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Criminal Law'', 2 vols. 1803. This, the result of fifteen years' labour, is based partly on a careful study of previous writers and on private collections of cases.
# ''A Report of the Cases of Sir Francis Burdett against the Right Hon. Charles Abbott'', 1811.
Family
East married Jane Isabella Hankey in 1786. She was the second daughter of Joseph Chaplin Hankey the banker of
East Bergholt
East Bergholt is a village in the Babergh District of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border.
The nearest town and railway station is Manningtree, Essex. East Bergholt is north of Colchester and south of Ipswich. Schools include Eas ...
, and sister of
Joseph Chaplin Hankey the Member of Parliament for , and of
Richard Hankey, Member of Parliament for .
They had a son and daughter. The son,
James Buller East, succeeded him in the title. His wife predeceased him by three years.
References
* Marvin, ''Legal Bibliography'' (1847)
Notes
External links
* Edward Hyde East
''Treatise of Pleas of the Crown'' vol.1 1803 Edition (London).
* Edward Hyde East
''Treatise of Pleas of the Crown'' vol.1 1806 Edition (Philadelphia).
* Edward Hyde East
''Treatise of Pleas of the Crown'' vol.2 1806 Edition (Philadelphia).
;Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:East, Edward Hyde
1764 births
1847 deaths
Members of the Inner Temple
British legal writers
British India judges
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Fellows of the Royal Society
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
UK MPs 1830–1831
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
British slave owners