Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St Leonards

Victoria
Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	The Lord Truro
Succeeded by	The Lord Cranworth
Personal details
Born	Edward Burtenshaw Sugden; 12 February 1781
Died	29 January 1875 (aged 93)
Nationality	British
Political party	Tory; Conservative;
Spouse	Winifred Knapp (m. 1808; died 1861)

Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, 1st Baron Saint Leonards,

DL (12 February 1781 – 29 January 1875) was a British lawyer, judge and Conservative

politician.

Background

Sugden was the son of a high-class hairdresser and wig-maker in Westminster, London. Details of his education are said to be "obscure". It appears that he was mostly self-taught, although he also attended a private school.

His humble origins and rapid rise were frequently remarked upon by his contemporaries: when he first attempted to enter Parliament, he was heckled at hustings for being the son of a barber. Later, Thomas Fowell Buxton would write that "there are few instances in modern times of a rise equal to that of Sir Edward Sugden".

Legal and political career

After practising for some years as a

Jewish emancipation, arguing that "They had possessed nothing; they held nothing. They had no civil rights; they never had any."^[3]

In 1834–5 Sugden was made

Court of Appeal. In Lord Derby's first government in 1852 he became Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and was raised to the peerage as Baron Saint Leonards, of Slaugham in the County of Sussex.^[4] In this position he devoted himself with energy and vigour to the reform of the law (note his important dissenting opinion in Jorden v Money (1854) 5 HL Cas 185); Lord Derby on his return to power in 1858 again offered him the same office, which from considerations of health he declined. He continued, however, to take an active interest especially in the legal matters that came before the House of Lords, and bestowed his particular attention on the reform of the law of property.^[1] He championed the fulfilment of the will of J. M. W. Turner

with regard to his art bequests in 1857–70.

Publications

Lord Saint Leonards was the author of various important legal publications, many of which have passed through several editions. Besides the treatise on purchasers already mentioned, they include Powers, Cases decided by the House of Lords, Gilbert on Uses, New Real Property Laws and Handybook of Property Law, Misrepresentations in Campbells Lives of Lyndhurst and Brougham, corrected by St Leonards.^[1]

Family

Lord Saint Leonards married Winifred, daughter of John Knapp, in 1808. She died in May 1861, Lord Saint Leonards died at

Boyle Farm, Thames Ditton

, in January 1875, aged 93, and was succeeded in the barony by his grandson, Edward.

Inheritance dispute

After his death his will was missing but his daughter, Charlotte Sugden, was able to recollect the contents of a most intricate document, and in the action of Sugden v. Lord Saint Leonards (L.R. 1 P.D. 154) the

common law.^[5]

Arms

Coat of arms of Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St Leonards
Crest A Leopard's Head erased Sable spotted and gorged with a Baron's Coronet Or Escutcheon Azure on a Fess Or between in chief two Maidens' Heads couped at the shoulders proper and in base a Leopard's Head erased of the second spotted Sable an Annulet Gules Supporters On either side a Leopard Or pellety and gorged with a Baron's Coronet of the first lined Azure Motto Labore Vinces^[6]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chisholm 1911.
^ "No. 18587". The London Gazette. 23 June 1829. p. 1157.
^ Hansard, 2nd Series, xxiii, 1330.
^ "No. 21297". The London Gazette. 2 March 1852. p. 670.
^ H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Thames Ditton". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
^ "Saint Leonards, Baron (UK, 1852 - 1985)".

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "St Leonards, Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–24.
Dittopedia, the collaborative local history of Thames Ditton

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Lord St Leonards
"Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, Lord St Leonards" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. XXI (9th ed.). 1886. p. 182.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by John Gordon Fowell Buxton Masterton Ure	Member of Parliament for John Gordon from 1826 Fowell Buxton 1818–1832 Masterton Ure 1813–1832	Succeeded by John Gordon Fowell Buxton Masterton Ure
Preceded by Sir Codrington Carrington George Grenville Wandisford Pigott	Member of Parliament for St Mawes 1831–1832 With: George Grenville Wandisford Pigott	Constituency abolished
Preceded by Sir Charles Dalbiac Thomas Pemberton	Member of Parliament for Ripon 1837–1841 With: Thomas Pemberton	Succeeded by Sir George Cockburn Thomas Pemberton
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Nicholas Tindal	Solicitor-General for England 1829–1830	Succeeded by Sir William Horne
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Plunket	Lord High Chancellor of Ireland 1834–1835	Succeeded by The Lord Plunket
Preceded by The Lord Campbell	Lord High Chancellor of Ireland 1841–1846	Succeeded by Maziere Brady
Preceded by The Lord Truro	Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1852	Succeeded by The Lord Cranworth
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron St Leonards 1852–1875	Succeeded by Edward Sugden

[FOOTNOTEChisholm1911-1] Chisholm 1911.

[2] "No. 18587". The London Gazette. 23 June 1829. p. 1157.

[3] Hansard, 2nd Series, xxiii, 1330.

[4] "No. 21297". The London Gazette. 2 March 1852. p. 670.

[5] H.E. Malden, ed. (1911). "Parishes: Thames Ditton". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

[6] "Saint Leonards, Baron (UK, 1852 - 1985)".

[3]

[4]

[1]

[5]

[6]

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	Germany Italy Israel Belgium United States
People	Ireland Trove