Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough
George III | |
---|---|
Preceded by | The Lord Kenyon |
Succeeded by | Charles Abbott |
Personal details | |
Born | Edward Law 16 November 1750 Great Salkeld, Cumberland, England, Great Britain |
Died | 13 December 1818 London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | (aged 68)
Resting place | Charterhouse, London, England |
Spouse |
Ann Towry (m. 1789) |
Children | 10, including Edward, Charles and Henry |
Parent | Edmund Law (father) |
Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough,
Early life
Law was born at
Career
After spending five years as a special pleader under the bar, he was called to the bar in 1780. He chose the northern circuit, and in a very short time obtained a lucrative practice and a high reputation. In 1787 he was appointed principal counsel for Warren Hastings in the celebrated impeachment trial before the House of Lords, and the ability with which he conducted the defence was universally recognised.[2] He was made a King's Counsel that year.[citation needed] In 1798, he was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.[citation needed]
He had begun his political career as a
In 1803, he presided over the treason trial of Colonel Edward Despard. In denying the jury's motion for clemency (following the character witness of Vice-Admiral Nelson) Lord Ellenborough emphasised the revolutionary nature of Despard's purpose. It was, he claimed, not only to rend the new union between Great Britain and Ireland, but also to affect "the forcible reduction to one common level of all the advantages of property, of all civil and political rights whatsoever".[5]
Later that same year, 1803, he was appointed to the
In 1806, on the death of William Pitt the Younger, Lord Ellenborough served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for two weeks ad interim. On the formation of Lord Grenville's ministry "of all the talents", Lord Ellenborough declined the offer of the office of Lord Chancellor, but accepted a seat in the cabinet. His doing so while he retained the chief justiceship was much criticised at the time, and, though not without precedent, was open to such obvious objections on constitutional grounds that the experiment was never repeated. As a judge, his decisions displayed profound legal knowledge, and in mercantile law especially were reckoned of high authority. He was harsh and overbearing to counsel, and in the political trials which were so frequent in his time, such as that of Lord Cochrane for Stock Exchange fraud in 1814, showed an unmistakable bias against the accused. In the trial of William Hone for blasphemy in 1817, Ellenborough directed the jury to find a verdict of guilty, and their acquittal of the prisoner is generally said to have hastened his death.[2]
On the other hand, his humane and enlightened judgment in R. v. Inhabitants of Eastbourne[6] that destitute French refugees in England have a fundamental human right to be given sufficient means to enable them to live, has been much praised and frequently followed. In the field of copyright, his judgment in Cary v Kearsley[7] that " a man may fairly adopt part of the work of another for the promotion of science.....one must not put manacles on science" was extremely influential in developing the doctrine of fair use. He resigned his judicial office in November 1818, and died shortly after.
Family
Lord Ellenborough married, on 17 October 1789, Ann Towry (1769–1843), the daughter of George Phillips Towry of Foliejon Park at Winkfield in Berkshire and his wife, Elizabeth. They had five sons and five daughters who survived infancy:
- Hon. Elizabeth Susan (d. 31 March 1883) married Charles Abbot, 2nd Baron Colchester. They had one son, Reginald
- Hon. Anne (d. 30 May 1852) married Adm. John Colville, 9th Lord Colville. They had no children.
- Hon. Mary Frederica (d. 16 September 1851) married Lt.-Gen. Thomas Dyneley on 10 July 1827. They had no known children.
- Hon. Frederica Selina (d. 16 April 1879) married Capt. Henry James Ramsden, son of Sir John Ramsden, 4th Baronet. They had five sons and four daughters.
- Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (8 September 1790 – 22 December 1871)
- Hon. Charles Ewan (14 June 1792 – 13 August 1850)
- Hon. Henry Spencer (10 May 1802 – 15 July 1885)
- Hon. William Towry (16 June 1809 – 31 October 1886) was married twice. Firstly to Hon. Augusta Champagne Graves, daughter of Thomas Graves, 2nd Baron Graves, on 15 March 1831. Two years after her death he married secondly, Matilda Montgomery, daughter of Sir Conyngham Montgomery, 1st Baronet, on 25 January 1846. He had five sons, one daughter with Augusta and two more sons and a daughter with Matilda.
- Hon. Frances Henrietta (11 February 1812 – 2 March 1894) married twice. Firstly, Charles Des Voeux, son of Sir Charles Des Voeux, 2nd Baronet, on 8 March 1832. Charles died a little over a year later, and Frances married secondly Sir Robert Dallas, 2nd Baronet, on 29 September 1841. With Sir Robert, she had at least one daughter.
He was succeeded as second baron by his eldest son, Edward, later the Earl of Ellenborough; another son, Charles, was Recorder of London and Member of Parliament for Cambridge University UK 1835 until his death.[2]
Three of Ellenborough's brothers attained some degree of fame. These were John Law (1745–1810), Bishop of Elphin; Thomas Law (1759–1834), who settled in the United States in 1793, and married, as his second wife, Eliza Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington; and George Henry Law (1761–1845), Bishop of Chester and of Bath and Wells. The connection of the Law family with the English Church was kept up by George Henry's sons, three of whom took orders. Two of these were Henry Law (1797–1884), Dean of Gloucester, and James Thomas Law (1790–1876), chancellor of the Diocese of Lichfield.[2]
Footnotes
- ^ "Law, Edward (LW767E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c d e f g public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ellenborough, Edward Law, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 289. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ "No. 15338". The London Gazette. 17 February 1801. p. 202.
- ^ "No. 15471". The London Gazette. 13 April 1802. p. 386.
- ISBN 9780807050071.
- ^ (1803) 4 East 103
- ^ (1802) 4 Esp. 168
References
- Barker, G. F. R. (1892). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- Lobban, Michael (January 2008). "Law, Edward, first Baron Ellenborough (1750–1818)". required.)
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [better source needed]
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs