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Sir William Markby,
KCIE (31 May 182915 October 1914) 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 ...
judge and legal writer.
Career
Markby was born on 31 May 1829, the fourth son of the Rev. William Henry Markby, Rector of
Duxford
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area.
History
The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of the ...
in Cambridgeshire. He was educated at
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
and from 1846 at
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he took his degree in Mathematics 1850. He was called to the bar in 1850 (or 1853?), and in 1865 he became recorder of
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
. In 1866, Markby went to
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 ...
as judge of the
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
. This post he held for twelve years. He also became the
Vice Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...
of the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
. On his retirement in 1878, he was knighted and appointed as
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
in Indian Law at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, a post he held until 1900.
He was also Tutor and Senior Bursar of Balliol College. In February 1900 he was appointed ''perpetual curator'' of the Indian Institute, in recognition of his long and valuable service to the University.
He was a member of the Commission to inquire into the administration of justice at
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
. Besides ''Lectures on Indian Law'', he wrote ''Elements of Law considered with reference to the General Principles of Jurisprudence''. The latter, being intended in the first place for Indian students, calls attention to many difficulties in the definition and application of legal conceptions which are usually passed over in textbooks, and it ranks as one of the few books on the
philosophy of law
Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...
which are both useful to beginners and profitable to teachers and thinkers.
In 1897 appeared ''The Indian Evidence A Ct, with Notes''. Sir William Markby also contributed to the law magazines, articles on ''Law and Fact, German Jurists and Roman Law, Legal Fictions'', etc., several of which are embodied in the later editions of the ''Elements''. He was made
D.C.L. of Oxford in 1879, and appointed a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
(KCIE) in 1889.
[Great Britain. India Office ]
Family
Markby married, on 22 March 1866, Lucy Taylor (1841–1928), and their only child, an unnamed son, was born and died in Calcutta the following October.
On his retirement from the bench in 1878, the couple returned to England. In March 1879 Markby bought the southernmost plot of land to the east of Pullens Lane that was being sold by John Marriott Davenport. His wife later wrote:
In September 1880 his family moved into their new house, usually known as The Pullens. The 1881 census describes the house as "Joe Pullen's, Headington Hill", and shows Sir William (51) and his wife Lucy (38) looked after by a cook, parlourmaid, housemaid, and kitchenmaid. It was in this house that Sir William would have written Elements of law considered with reference to principles of general jurisprudence (first edition 1889; sixth edition 1905).
The Markby family was away from Headington at the time of both the 1891 and 1901 censuses, but Sir William, who continued to be "Tutor to the Indian probationers" when he retired from being Reader in Indian Law, is listed as the occupier of Pullens in directories until his death in Headington at the age of 85 on 15 October 1914. He was buried at Headington Cemetery four days later.
For some unknown reason Lady Markby then renamed their house "Fairfield". In 1917 she published a book about her husband.
She remained in the house until her death at the end of 1928.
References
External links
Sir William Markby and Headingtonat www.headington.org.uk Sir William Markby and Headington
at www.headington.org.uk Markby's house in Headington
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markby, William
1829 births
1914 deaths
People from South Cambridgeshire District
Knights Bachelor
Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
Vice Chancellors of the University of Calcutta
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford