biography
| name: |
Mansfield (of Caen Wood), William Murray, 1st Earl of
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1705–93)
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| biography:
| Judge, born in Scone, Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, UK. He studied at Oxford, was called to the bar, and acquired an extensive practice. He was appointed solicitor general (1742), became MP for Boroughbridge, and was appointed attorney general in 1754. In 1756 he became Chief Justice of the King's Bench, a member of the cabinet, and Baron Mansfield. His judgments were influential, and he made important contributions to the law of evidence and the procedure of courts, but his opinions were unpopular, and during the Gordon riots of 1780 his house was burned. He was created an earl in 1776, and resigned his office in 1788. He is remembered for his contribution to international and domestic commercial law; his aim was to make commercial law and general law an integrated whole. Descibed by Macaulay as ‘the father of modern toryism’, his fame is nevertheless tarnished by his adherence to the policy of coercing the American colonies. |
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