Difference between revisions of "Reports of Select Cases in All the Courts of Westminster-Hall"

From Wythepedia: The George Wythe Encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 2: Line 2:
 
===by John Fortescue-Aland===
 
===by John Fortescue-Aland===
 
__NOTOC__
 
__NOTOC__
−
<blockquote> Although a learned lawyer, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fortescue-Aland Fortescue Aland] admitted to ‘want of assurance’, and seems to have been happier in his study than among ‘the noise and trouble of the world’ (BL, Stowe MS 750, fol. 28). In addition to researches in legal history, his scholarly work demonstrated an admiration for logic and mathematics. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 20 March 1712 and became an honorary doctor of civil law at Oxford in 1733. His Reports of Select Cases in All the Courts of Westminster-Hall was published in 1748. <ref> David Lemmings, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/271‘Aland, John Fortescue, first Baron Fortescue of Credan (1670–1746)’], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 30 May 2013.</ref> </blockquote>
+
Sir John Fortescue (1670-1746) served as Baron of the Exchequer, Judge of the Common Pleas, and sat on the King’s Bench.<ref> David Lemmings, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/271?docPos=1, “John Fortescue Aland (1670–1746)”], “Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 9 Dec 2013.</ref>  He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1688 and called to bar in 1695.<ref>Ibid.</ref> He married in 1707 and transferred to the Inner Temple in 1712.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Partially on account of his noble bloodline, his political ascension was rapid.<ref>Ibid.</ref> In 1715 he became not only the King’s council, but also the solicitor general to both the King and the Prince of Wales.<ref>Ibid.</ref>  He became Baron of the exchequer in 1717 and was knighted in the same year.<ref>Ibid.</ref><br ><br >
 +
However, his political fortunes waned after he took the King’s side in a dispute between the monarch and his heir.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Although this earned him the King’s favor and a seat on the King’s bench, he lost favor with the Prince of Wales.<ref Ibid.</ref> When George II ascended to the throne, he was the only judge who was not reappointed.<ref Ibid.</ref> It took over a full year for him to become a justice of common pleas.<ref>Ibid.</ref><br ><br >
 +
His Reports of Select cases in all the Courts of Westminster Hall reveal his interest in logic and mathematics and his preference for scholarly work over politics.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Compared to his contemporaries, they are well prepared and meticulously written.<ref>John William Wallace, “The Reporters Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks'' (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882) 410.</ref>    It is most likely that Sir Fortescue himself prepared them before his death, although his work was not published until 1748, two years after his death.<ref>Ibid.</ref>
 +
 
  
 
==Bibliographic Information==
 
==Bibliographic Information==

Revision as of 13:55, 9 December 2013

by John Fortescue-Aland

Sir John Fortescue (1670-1746) served as Baron of the Exchequer, Judge of the Common Pleas, and sat on the King’s Bench.[1] He was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1688 and called to bar in 1695.[2] He married in 1707 and transferred to the Inner Temple in 1712.[3] Partially on account of his noble bloodline, his political ascension was rapid.[4] In 1715 he became not only the King’s council, but also the solicitor general to both the King and the Prince of Wales.[5] He became Baron of the exchequer in 1717 and was knighted in the same year.[6]

However, his political fortunes waned after he took the King’s side in a dispute between the monarch and his heir.[7] Although this earned him the King’s favor and a seat on the King’s bench, he lost favor with the Prince of Wales.[8] It took over a full year for him to become a justice of common pleas.[9]

His Reports of Select cases in all the Courts of Westminster Hall reveal his interest in logic and mathematics and his preference for scholarly work over politics.[10] Compared to his contemporaries, they are well prepared and meticulously written.[11] It is most likely that Sir Fortescue himself prepared them before his death, although his work was not published until 1748, two years after his death.[12]


Bibliographic Information

Author: John Fortescue-Aland, (1670-1746)

Title: Reports of Select Cases in All the Courts of Westminster-Hall: Also the Opinion of All the Judges of England Relating to the Grandest Prerogative of the Royal Family, and Some Observations Relating to the Prerogative of a Queen Consort.

Publication Info: London, In the Savoy: Printed for H. Lintot, 1748.

Edition: First edition.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Ordered by Wythe from John Norton & Sons in a letter dated May 8, 1770. Records indicate the order was fulfilled.[13] Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Fortescue's rep. and given by Thomas Jefferson to Dabney Carr. [14] Three of the Wythe Collection sources (Dean's Memo[15], Brown's Bibliography[16] and George Wythe's Library[17] on LibraryThing) list this work. The fourth, Goodwin's pamphlet,[18] includes instead the author's treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliae, 2nd edition, 1741.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Rebound in brown buckram with autograph on the titlepage of Tho. Chippindale.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

  1. ↑ David Lemmings, “John Fortescue Aland (1670–1746)”, “Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 9 Dec 2013.
  2. ↑ Ibid.
  3. ↑ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Ibid.
  5. ↑ Ibid.
  6. ↑ Ibid.
  7. ↑ Ibid.
  8. ↑ When George II ascended to the throne, he was the only judge who was not reappointed.<ref Ibid.
  9. ↑ Ibid.
  10. ↑ Ibid.
  11. ↑ John William Wallace, “The Reporters Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882) 410.
  12. ↑ Ibid.
  13. ↑ Frances Norton Mason, ed., John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia: Being the Papers from their Counting House for the Years 1750 to 1795 (Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, 1937), 133-134. The letter is endorsed "Virga. 7 May 1770 / George Wythe / Recd. 18 June pr Dixon / Goods Entr. pa. 220/ Ansd. the 28th July."
  14. ↑ English Short Title Catalog, http://estc.bl.uk, search of "Fortescue" and "Reports" reveals only one folio edition.
  15. ↑ Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 7 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
  16. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
  17. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
  18. ↑ Mary R. M. Goodwin, The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), xlvi. Available at http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports\RR0216.xml
Retrieved from "http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/index.php?title=Reports_of_Select_Cases_in_All_the_Courts_of_Westminster-Hall&oldid=11928"