Thomas Webster (1810–1875) was an English barrister, known for his involvement in patent legislation, and for committee work leading up to

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

Life

He was born on 16 October 1810, the eldest son of Thomas Webster, vicar of

Oakington Oakington is a small rural Anglo-Saxon village north-west of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. Since 1985 the village has formed part of the parish of Oakington and Westw ...

, Cambridgeshire. From

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

he went to

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

, and graduated B.A. as fourteenth wrangler in 1832, proceeding M.A. in 1835. In 1837 Webster became secretary to the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

. In 1839 he resigned the post, but remained honorary secretary till 1841. In that year 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 ...

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 ...

, and joined the northern circuit. Webster built up a practice in scientific cases, and was recognised as an authority on patent law. He played a major part in the reforming Patent Law Amendment Act of 1852. He had also a parliamentary practice. He was one of the counsel engaged for

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in the contests over the Liverpool and Mersey docks. Webster was on the governing body of the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, a significant member of the reforming group in the Society of the mid-1840s; others were George Bailey, John Bethell,

John Scott Russell John Scott Russell FRSE FRS FRSA (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built '' Great Eastern'' in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel. ...

, Edward Speer,

William Tooke William Tooke (1744 – 17 November 1820) was a British clergyman and historian of Russia. Life Tooke was the second son of Thomas Tooke (1705–1773) of St. John's, Clerkenwell, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of Thomas Mann of St. James's, ...

, and Joseph Woods. Henry Trueman Wright Wood, ''A History of the Royal Society of Arts'' (1913), p. 346 note 1
archive.org.
/ref> He was in the chair at the meeting of the society in 1845 when the first proposal was made for holding the International Exhibition of 1851, and was a member of initial committee appointed to organise it. Webster 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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1847, and in 1865 he was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. He died in London on 3 June 1875.

Works

Webster's ''Reports and Notes of Cases on Letters Patent for Inventions'' (1844) became a standard textbook. In 1848 he published a handbook ''The Ports and Docks of Birkenhead''. In 1853 and 1857 he republished the reports of the acting committee of the conservators of the Mersey.

Family

Webster married twice. Firstly, in 1839, he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard Calthrop of Swineshead Abbey, Lincolnshire. His second wife was Mary Frances, daughter of Joseph Collier Cookworthy (of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

), and sister of Joseph Cookworthy, a member of parliament in Western Australia. By his first wife he had three sons, the second being

Richard Everard Webster Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, (22 December 1842 – 15 December 1915) was a British barrister, politician and judge who served in many high political and judicial offices. Background and education Webster was the second son ...

, and two daughters; by his second wife he had one son and one daughter.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Thomas 1810 births 1875 deaths English barristers Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn People from Oakington 19th-century English lawyers Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge