Thomas Bury (1655–1722) was an English judge. He took part in the decision regarding the 1704 Aylesbury election. King George I raised Bury to the position of

Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pre ...

Early life and education

Bury was born in 1655, the youngest son of Sir William Bury, knight, of Linwood, Lincolnshire. In February 1667, Bury earned a bachelor's degree at Lincoln College, Oxford, and entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

as a student the following year.

Career

He was called to the bar in 1676, and after some years' practice became a serjeant-at-law in 1700. Later, on 26 January 1701, when Sir

Littleton Powys Sir Littleton Powys Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1647?– 16 March 1732) was a Justice of the King's Bench. Early years He was the eldest son of Thomas Powys of Henley Hall in Shropshire, serjeant-at-law, a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn, and the ...

was removed to the King's Bench, he was made a Baron of the Exchequer.Sir John Sainty (comp.) ''The Judges of England, 1272–1990: a list of the judges of the Superior courts'' (Selden Society: Supplementary Series 1993), 128. Regarding this appointment, his

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

says that he "by his Great Application to the Study of the Law, raised himself to one of the highest Degrees in that Profession." Speaker Onslow, in his notes to

Bishop Burnet Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Burnet was highly respected as a cleric, a preacher, an academic, ...

's ''History'', affirms 'that it appeared from Bury's book of accounts' that he gave Lord-keeper Wright a bribe of £1000 for elevating him to the bench. He was knighted the same year. For fifteen years he continued to discharge the duties of a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

Aylesbury election

In 1704, when corrupt practices had extensively prevailed at the Aylesbury election, the Whigs, who were then defeated, knowing that proceeding by a petition to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

would be useless, caused actions to be brought in the Queen's Bench division by some of the electors against the

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

s. One of these actions, the leading case of Ashby v. White, after judgment for the defendants in the Queen's Bench, from which

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Holt dissented, was taken to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

upon a writ of error, and the judges were summoned to advise the house. Of these judges Bury was one, and his opinion was given in support of that of the Lord Chief Justice in the court below; and Lord Somers being of the same opinion, the decision of the queen's bench was reversed by fifty to sixteen. On 20 and 22 April 1710 he, with Chief Justice Parker and Mr. Justice Tracy, at the Old Baile, tried one Damary for riot and being ringleader of a mob.

Robert Mann

There is a letter of his (25 June 1713) preserved among the treasury papers to the lord high treasurer, about offering a reward for the apprehension of one Robert Mann.

Later life

On the death of Sir Samuel Dodd, Bury was raised by King George I to be Chief Baron of the Exchequer 10 June 1716. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1718. He died on 4 May 1722, suddenly, having been engaged in the discharge of his judicial duties until within a few hours of his death. He was buried, with a handsome tomb, in the parish church of

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. He never married and left no issue, and his estates at

Irby Irby may refer to: * Irby (surname), a list of people * Irby, Merseyside, England, a village * Irby, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community * Irby in the Marsh, Lincol ...

, near Wainfleet, passed to his grandnephew, William Bury, of Lyndwood Grange, Lincolnshire. There is a portrait of him, engraved in mezzotint by Smith, after a picture by J. Richardson dated 1720.Noble, Granger, iii. 198

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bury, Thomas 1655 births 1722 deaths People from Lincoln, England Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Members of Gray's Inn 17th-century English lawyers 18th-century English judges Fellows of the Royal Society Serjeants-at-law (England) Barons of the Exchequer