Sir Thomas Reeve (1673January 19, 1737) was a British justice.

Life

He was the son of Richard Reeve, and was matriculated to

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

in 1688 at the age of 15, joining

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 W ...

in 1690. In 1698 he was called to the Bar, migrating to

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1713. He was called to the Inn bench in 1720, and served as treasurer in 1728. In 1717 he became a

King's counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

, and in 1722 became attorney-general of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

. He was at this point one of the most prolific barristers in Britain. An analysis of records show that in 1720 he was appearing in more cases than any other barrister in the

Court of the King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initia ...

. He was appointed a judge in the King's Bench on 18 November 1723. On 17 April 1733, he became a

Puisne justice 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 ...

of the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, and was created a

Serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are w ...

at the same time to satisfy the minimum requirements for the office. After the death of Sir Robert Eyre in office in 1735 Reeve was rumoured to be succeeding him, but had competition in the form of Alexander Denton, who he had previously succeeded as attorney-general of the Duchy of Lancaster; Denton was rejected on grounds of ill-health, however, and Reeve was promoted on 26 January 1736, and knighted at the same time. He was appointed to the Privy Council shortly after. He died in office within a year on 19 January 1737, and was buried in

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

on 28 January. He was at the time of his death very wealthy, including over £22,000 in personal property, as well as land in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

; he was apparently courted by Lord Sidney Beauclerk, an infamous fortune-seeker, who hoped to be given a legacy, although without success. He was married to Annabella Topham, whose brother

Richard Topham Richard Topham (1671–1730) was an English landowner and politician, Member of Parliament for from 1698 to 1713. He is known also as a collector. Life He was son of John Topham, acting as serjeant-at-arms of the House of Commons from 1678 until ...

was

Keeper of the Records at the Tower of London This is a list of Keepers of the Records in the Tower of London. The position was medieval in origin, and ended in 1838 with the creation of the London Public Record Office. In the 16th century the distinction was made between Chancery Rolls fr ...

; Beauclerk later succeeded in getting the estate of Richard in and around Windsor and

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from ...

. The memorial to Sir Thomas and his wife (with busts) stands in John the Baptist Church in Windsor and is by

Peter Scheemakers Peter Scheemakers or Pieter Scheemaeckers II or the Younger (10 January 1691 – 12 September 1781) was a Flemish sculptor who worked for most of his life in London. His public and church sculptures in a classicist style had an important influenc ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, Thomas 1673 births 1737 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Chief Justices of the Common Pleas Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain 18th-century King's Counsel Serjeants-at-law (England) Justices of the Common Pleas

Jurists A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...