The Swiney Prize, a British award made every five years by the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

with the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, was set up by the will of George Swiney, an English physician who died in 1844. The prize came to be awarded alternately for medical jurisprudence and general jurisprudence. New cups were designed, after an initial stable period when a pattern by

Daniel Maclise Daniel Maclise (25 January 180625 April 1870) was an Irish history painter, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England. Early life Maclise was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Alexan ...

was reused. The first new design came in 1919, by Melvin Oliver.

George Swiney (1793–1844)

George Swiney, a physician, was the son of William Swiney (1748–1829),

Admiral of the Red The Admiral of the Red was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the Fleet (see order of precedence below). The rank did not exist prior to 1805, as the admiral commanding the Red ...

. He was born on 8-Jun-1793 at St Marylebone, Middlesex, England. He was educated at Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.D. in 1816. Having retired from practice, he settled in London, lived a secluded life, and acquired a reputation as an eccentric. He spent much time on his will and died at Grove Street,

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, on 21 January 1844. He bequeathed £5,000 to the Society of Arts, to found a quinquennial prize for the best published essay on jurisprudence, the prize to be adjudicated jointly by the Society of Arts and the London College of Physicians; and £5,000 to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

to found a lectureship in geology, the lecturer to be an M.D. of Edinburgh.

List of winners

*1849 John Samuel Martin Fonblanque and

John Ayrton Paris John Ayrton Paris, FRS (178524December 1856) was a British physician. He is most widely remembered as a possible inventor of the thaumatrope, which he published with W. Phillips in April 1825. Life Paris was a medical researcher of distincti ...

, ''Medical Jurisprudence'', first award *1854 Leone Levi, ''Commercial Law of the World.'' *1859

Alfred Swaine Taylor Alfred Swaine Taylor (11 December 1806 in Northfleet, Kent – 27 May 1880 in London) was an English toxicologist and medical writer, who has been called the "father of British forensic medicine". He was also an early experimenter in photography ...

, ''Medical Jurisprudence'' *1864

Henry James Sumner Maine Sir Henry James Sumner Maine, (15 August 1822 – 3 February 1888), was a British Whig comparative jurist and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in his book ''Ancient Law'' that law and society developed "from status to contract." ...

, ''Ancient Law'' *1869, William Augustus Guy, ''Principles of Forensic Medicine'' *1874

Robert Joseph Phillimore Sir Robert Joseph Phillimore, 1st Baronet (5 November 1810 – 4 February 1885), was an English judge and politician. He was the last Judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1867 to 1875 bringing an end to an office that had lasted nearly 400 ...

, ''Commentaries on International Law'' *1879

Norman Chevers Norman Chevers (1818–1886) was an English physician and surgeon of the Bengal Medical Service. He is known for research on constrictive pericarditis. Life He was born at Greenhithe in Kent, the son of the naval surgeon Forbes Macbean Chevers ...

, ''Manual of Medical Jurisprudence for India'' *1884

Sheldon Amos Sheldon Amos (1 June 1835 – 3 January 1886) was an England, English jurist. Life and career Sheldon Amos was born in St Pancras, London, the son of lawyer Andrew Amos (lawyer), Andrew Amos and his wife, Margaret. He was educated at Clare Colleg ...

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, ''List of the Fellows and Members'' (1906) pp. 303–4
archive.org.
/ref> *1889 Charles Meymott Tidy, ''Legal Medicine'' *1894

Thomas Erskine Holland Sir Thomas Erskine Holland KC, FBA (17 July 183524 May 1926) was a British jurist. After school at Brighton College and studies at Oxford, he practiced law as a barrister from 1863 onwards. In 1874, he returned to Oxford, succeeding William B ...

, ''Elements of Jurisprudence'' *1899 John Dixon Mann *1905 Frederick Pollock and

Frederic William Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and lawyer who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. Early life and education, 1850–72 Frederic William Maitland was born at 53 Guilford Street, Lon ...

, ''History of English Law before Edward the First'' *1909

Charles Arthur Mercier Charles Arthur Mercier (21 June 1851 – 2 September 1919) was a British psychiatrist and leading expert on forensic psychiatry and insanity.Charles Arthur Mercier, M.D.Lond., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S., Consulting Physician For Mental Diseases, Charin ...

, ''Criminal Responsibility'' *1914

John William Salmond Sir John William Salmond (3 December 1862 – 19 September 1924) was a legal scholar, public servant and judge in New Zealand. Biography Salmond was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, the eldest son of William Salmond (died 19 ...

, ''Jurisprudence or the Theory of the Law '' *1919 Charles Arthur Mercier, ''Crime and Criminals'' *1924

Paul Vinogradoff Sir Paul Gavrilovitch Vinogradoff (russian: Па́вел Гаври́лович Виногра́дов, transliterated: ''Pavel Gavrilovich Vinogradov''; 18 November 1854 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, (O.S.)19 D ...

*1929 Sydney Alfred Smith, ''Forensic Medicine'' *1934

William Searle Holdsworth Sir William Searle Holdsworth (7 May 1871 – 2 January 1944) was an English legal historian and Vinerian Professor of English Law at Oxford University, amongst whose works is the 17-volume ''History of English Law''. Biography Holdsworth wa ...

*1939

James Couper Brash James Couper Brash, MC, FRCSE, FRSE (24 October 1886 in Cathcart – 19 January 1958 in Edinburgh) was a leading anatomist and embryologist in Britain. Early life and family James Couper Brash was born in Cathcart in Scotland, the son of ...

and

John Glaister Professor John Glaister (9 March 1856 – 18 December 1932) was a Scottish forensic scientist who worked as a general practitioner, police surgeon, and as a lecturer at Glasgow Royal Infirmary Medical School and the University of Glasgow. Glasg ...

, ''Medico-Legal Aspects of the Ruxton Case'' *1944

Carlton Kemp Allen Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

, ''Law in the Making'' *1949 John Glaister, ''Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology'' *1954

George Whitecross Paton Sir George Whitecross Paton (16 August 1902 – 16 June 1985) was an Australian legal scholar and Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne University from 1951 until 1968. Early life and education Paton was born on 16 August 1902 in Geelong, Victoria. His pa ...

, ''Textbook of Jurisprudence'' (2nd edition) *1959 Keith Simpson, ''Forensic Medicine'' (3rd edition) *1964

Julius Stone Julius Stone (7 July 1907 – 1985) was Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney from 1942 to 1972, and thereafter a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and concurrently Dist ...

, ''The Province and Function of Law'', and

Glanville Williams Glanville Llewelyn Williams (15 February 1911 – 10 April 1997) was a Welsh legal scholar who was the Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1978 and the Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University ...

''Criminal Law: The General Part'' *1969 Francis Edward Camps, ''Gradwohl's Legal Medicine'' (2nd edition) *1974 Stroud Francis Charles Milsom *1979 John Kenyon Mason, ''Forensic Medicine for Lawyers'' and his edition of ''The Pathology of Violent Injury'' *1984

Patrick Atiyah Patrick Selim Atiyah, (5 March 1931 – 30 March 2018) was an English lawyer and academic. He was best known for his work as a common lawyer, particularly in the law of contract and for advocating reformation or abolition of the law of tort. He ...

, ''Promises, Morals and Law'' *1989 P. D. G. Skegg, ''Law, Ethics and Medicine: Studies in Medical Law'' *1994 John Kelly, ''A Short History of Western Legal Theory'' *2000

Ronald Dworkin Ronald Myles Dworkin (; December 11, 1931 – February 14, 2013) was an American philosopher, jurist, and scholar of United States constitutional law. At the time of his death, he was Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at New Yo ...

*2004

Nicola Lacey Nicola Mary Lacey, (born 3 February 1958) is a British legal scholar who specialises in criminal law. Her research interests include criminal justice, criminal responsibility, and the political economy of punishment. Since 2013, she has been Pr ...

, ''A Life of H.L.A. Hart: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream''

George Swiney (1793–1844)

List of winners

Notes

Further reading