John Bramston the Elder
Sir John Bramston (or Brampston) the elder (18 May 1577 – 22 September 1654) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
Early life and career
Bramston, eldest son of Roger Bramston by Priscilla, daughter of Francis Clovile of
Lord Chief Justice
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On 14 April 1635, he was created Chief Justice of the King's Bench. In this position his first official act of historical importance was, in concert with the rest of the bench, to advise the king (13 February 1636/37) that he might lawfully levy Ship money, and that it belonged to the crown to decide when such levy ought to be made. Sir John's son informs us that his father was in favour of modifying this opinion in at least one essential particular: that he would have allowed the levy "during necessity only", and that he was only induced to subscribe to the opinion as it stood by the representation made "by the ancient judges that it was ever the use for all to subscribe to what was agreed by the majority".
In July of the same year, Bramston was a member of the
In the celebrated Ship money case (Rex v. Hampden), decided in the following year (12 June), Bramston gave his judgment against the king, though on a purely technical ground, viz. that by the record it did not appear to whom the money assessed was due, in that respect agreeing with the lord chief baron, Sir Humphry Davenport, who, with Brooke, Hutton, and Denham, also gave judgment in Hampden's favour; but taking care at the same time to signify his concurrence with the majority of the court upon the main question.
On 16 April 1640, during the indisposition of the lord keeper Finch, Bramston presided in the House of Lords.
On 21 December of the same year proceedings were commenced in the
Subsequent career
From this time forward until Bramston's death persistent attempts were made to induce him to declare definitely in favour of the parliament, but without success. In 1644, he was consulted by the leaders of the party as to the evidence necessary for the prosecution of Connor Maguire and Hugh Og MacMahon, two prisoners who had made their escape from the Tower of London and been retaken. In 1647, it was proposed to make him one of the commissioners of the great seal, and it was voted that he should sit as an assistant in the House of Lords, "which", says his son, "he did not absolutely deny, but avoided attending by the help of friends". In the same year, a resolution was come to that he should be appointed one of the judges of the Common Pleas. Even in the last year of his life Cromwell, then protector, sent for him privately, and was very urgent that he should again accept office as chief justice. Bramston, however, excused himself on the ground of his advanced age.
Death
He died, after a short illness, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 22 September 1654, at his manor of Skreens, in the parish of Roxwell, Essex, which he had bought in 1635 from Thomas Weston, the second son of Weston the lord treasurer. He was buried in Roxwell church. In-person he is described as of middle height, in youth slight and active, in later years stout without being corpulent. Fuller characterises him as "one of deep learning, solid judgment, integrity of life, and gravity of behaviour; in a word, accomplished with all the qualities requisite for a person of his place and profession". His son adds that he was "a very patient hearer of cases, free from passion and partiality, very modest in giving his opinion and judgment" (he seems to have shown a little too much of this quality on the occasion of the opinion on Ship money), "which he usually did with such reasons as often convinced those that differed from him and the auditory. Even the learned lawyers learned of him, as I have heard Twisden, Wild, Windham, and the admired Hales, and others acknowledge often".[2]
Private life
Bramston married in 1606 Bridget, daughter of
In 1631 he remarried Elizabeth, daughter of
Notes
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rigg, James McMullen (1885). "Bramston, John (1577–1654)". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links
- Hutchinson, John (1902). . A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices (1 ed.). Canterbury: the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. p. 29.