Sir Thomas Erskine Perry (20 July 1806 – 22 April 1882) was a British Liberal politician and judge in India. After serving as chief justice of the supreme court in Bombay and as a Member of Parliament in Britain, he served as a member of the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...

for 21 years.

Early and personal life

Perry was born in Wimbledon to James Perry and his wife, Anne, in 1806. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and Trinity College, Cambridge, before studying in Munich. Perry unsuccessfully stood for the seat of Chatham at the 1832 general election. Perry married Louisa McElkiney in 1834. After her death in India in 1841, he married Elizabeth Margaret Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, second daughter of Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, Bt, in 1855.

Career

Perry was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1827 before moving to the Inner Temple in 1832. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1834 and worked as a law reporter. He was appointed to serve as a judge of the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in Bombay and 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 ...

in February 1841. He served as chief justice from 1847 to 1852, and he was president of the Indian board of education for ten years. He also lectured on law outside of court, and his support for educational and employment opportunities for Indians meant a professorship, the Perry Professorship of Jurisprudence, at the Government Law School at Elphinstone was established in 1855 in his honour. He translated Friedrich Carl von Savigny's work on Roman law. After returning to England, Perry stood for Liverpool in the

1853 by-election Events January–March * January 6 – Florida Governor Thomas Brown signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the University of Florida. * January 8 – Taiping Reb ...

. Again unsuccessful, he gained the seat of Devonport in

1854 Events January–March * January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''. * January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born. * January 9 – The Teut ...

. He spoke in the House of Commons on the East India Company's rule in India and property rights for married women. He left parliament in 1859 following his appointment to the

, on which he served until 1882. After falling ill and being unable to be 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 ...

, Perry died in 1882 in London.

Works

*(trans.) ''Von Savigny's Treatise on possession, or, The jus possessionis of the civil law translated from the German'', 1848 * ''Cases illustrative of oriental life and the application of English law to India, decided in H. M. Supreme Court at Bombay'', 1853

Footnotes

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Thomas Erskine 1806 births 1882 deaths People from Wimbledon, London People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple British India judges Members of the Council of India Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859