Sir Thomas Erskine Perry (20 July 1806 – 22 April 1882) was a British

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician and judge 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 ...

. After serving as chief justice of the supreme court in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

and as a

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 o ...

in Britain, he served as a member of the Council of India 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 and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, before studying in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. 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 in 1827 before moving to 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 ...

in 1832. He was called to the bar in 1834 and worked as a law reporter. He was appointed to serve as a judge of the supreme court in

and was knighted 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 Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, at the Government Law School at Elphinstone was established in 1855 in his honour. He translated

Friedrich Carl von Savigny Friedrich Carl von Savigny (21 February 1779 – 25 October 1861) was a German jurist and historian. Early life and education Savigny was born at Frankfurt am Main, of a family recorded in the history of Lorraine, deriving its name from the cast ...

's work on

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

. After returning to England, Perry stood for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in the 1853 by-election. 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 ...

. He spoke in 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 ...

on the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

's rule in India and property rights for married women. He left parliament in 1859 following his appointment to the Council of India, on which he served until 1882. After falling ill and being unable to be sworn of the Privy Council, 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

* *

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