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MANSFIELD, WILLIAM MURRAY, 1ST EARL

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 601 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MANSFIELD, See also:
WILLIAM
WILLIAM (1143-1214)
WILLIAM (1227-1256)
WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
WILLIAM, 13TH
WILLIAM See also:
MURRAY
MURRAY (or MORAY), EARLS OF
MURRAY (or MORAY), JAMES STUART, EARL OF (c. 1531-1570)
MURRAY (or MORAY), SIR ROBERT (c. 1600-1673)
MURRAY, ALEXANDER STUART (1841-1904)
MURRAY, DAVID (1849– )
MURRAY, EUSTACE CLARE GRENVILLE (1824–1881)
MURRAY, JAMES (c. 1719-1794)
MURRAY, JOHN
MURRAY, JOHN (1778–1820)
MURRAY, LINDLEY (1745–1826)
MURRAY, LORD GEORGE (1694–1760)
MURRAY, SIR JAMES AUGUSTUS HENRY (1837– )
MURRAY, SIR JOHN (1841– )
MURRAY, 1ST See also:
EARL
EARL of (1705-1793), See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at See also:

Scone in See also:

PERTHSHIRE

Perthshire, on the end of See also:

March 1705. He was a younger son of See also:

David Murray, 5th See also:

VISCOUNT (through O. Fr. viscomte, mod. vicomte, from Low Lat. vice-comes, cf. Portug. visconde, Ital. visconte)

Viscount Stormont (c.1665—1731), the dignity having been granted in 1621 by See also:

James I. to his friend and helper, See also:

Sir David Murray (d. 1631), a Scottish politician of some See also:

note. See also:

Lord Stormont's See also:

FAMILY

family was Jacobite in its polities, and his second son James (c. 1690-1728), being apparently mixed up in some of the plots of the See also:

time, joined the See also:

court of the exiled Stuarts and in 1721 was created earl of Dunbarby James See also:

EDWARD

Edward, the Old Pretender. William Murray was educated at See also:

Perth See also:

GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

grammar school and See also:

Westminster School, of which he was a See also:

king's See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar., Entering See also:

Christ See also:

Church, See also:

Oxford, he graduated in 1727. , A friend of the family, Lord See also:

Foley, provided the funds for his legal training, and he became a member of See also:

Lincoln's See also:

Inn on. his departure from Oxford, being called to the See also:

bar in 1730, He was a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good scholar and mixed with the best See also:

LITERARY

literary society, being an intimate friend of See also:

Alexander See also:

Pope. His See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance in some important Scottish See also:

APPEAL

appeal cases brought him into See also:

NOTICE

notice, and in See also:

Scotland at least he acquired an immense reputation by his appearance for the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of See also:

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh when it was threatened with disfranchisement for the affair of the See also:

PORTEOUS, JOHN (d. 1736)

Porteous See also:

mob. His English practice had as yet been scanty, but in 1737 a single speech in a See also:

JURY

jury trial of note placed him at the See also:

head of the bar, and from this time he had all he could attend to. In 1718 he married See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady See also:

Elizabeth See also:

Finch, daughter of the earl, of See also:

Winchelsea. His See also:

POLITICAL

political career began in 1742 with his See also:

APPOINTMENT, POWER OF

appointment as See also:

SOLICITOR

solicitor-See also:

general. During the next fourteen years he was one of the most conspicuous figures in the See also:

PARLIAMENTARY

parliamentary See also:

HISTORY

history of the time.

By See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth a Jacobite, by association a Tory, he was nevertheless a Moderate, and his politics were really dominated by his legal interests. Although holding an See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office of subordinate See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank, he was the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief defender of the See also:

government in the See also:

House of See also:

COMMONS

Commons, and during the time that See also:

Pitt was in opposition had to See also:

bear the brunt of his attacks. In 1754 he became See also:

ATTORNEY (from O. Fr. atorne, a person appointed to act for another, from atourner, legal Lat. attornare, attorn, literally to turn over to another or commit business to another)

attorney-general, and for the next two years acted as See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader of the House of Commons under ' the 'administrationof the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

Newcastle. But in 1756, when the government was. evidently approaching , its fall, an unexpected vacancy occurred in the chief justiceship of the king's See also:

BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")

bench, and he claimed the office, being at the same time raised to the See also:

peerage as See also:

Baron Mansfield. From this time the chief See also:

INTEREST

interest of his career lies in his judicial See also:

WORK

work, but he did not wholly dissever himself from politics. He became by a singular arrangement, only repeated in the See also:

case of Lord See also:

Ellenborough, a member of the See also:

CABINET

cabinet, and remained in that position through various changes of See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration for nearly fifteen years, and, although he persistently refused the chancellorship, he acted as See also:

SPEAKER

Speaker of the House of Lords while the See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

Seal was in See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission. During the time of Pitt's ascendancy he took but little See also:

PART

part in politics, but while Lord See also:

Bute was in See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power his See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence was very considerable, and seems mostly to have been exerted in favour of a more moderate See also:

LINE

line of policy. He was on the whole a supporter of the See also:

PREROGATIVE

prerogative, but within definite limits. See also:

MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, BARON (1800-1859)

Macaulay terms him, justly enough, " the See also:

FATHER

father of See also:

MODERN

modern Toryism, of Toryism modified to suit an See also:

order of things in which the House of Commons is the most powerful See also:

BODY

body in the See also:

state. " During the stormy session of 1770 he came into violent collision with See also:

Chatham and See also:

Camden in the questions that arose out of the See also:

Middlesex See also:

election and the trials for political See also:

LIBEL

libel; and in the subsequent years he was made the subject of the See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter attacks of See also:

Junius, in which his See also:

early Jacobite connexions, and his apparent leanings to arbitrary power, were used against him with extraordinary ability and virulence. In 1776 he was created earl of Mansfield. In 1783, although he declined to re-enter the cabinet, he acted as Speaker of the House of Lords during the See also:

COALITION (Lat. coalitio, the verbal substantive of coalescere, to grow together)

coalition See also:

MINISTRY

ministry, and with this his political career may be said to have closed.

He continued to See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act as chief See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice until his resignation in See also:

JUNE

June 1788, and after five years spent in retirement died on the 20th of March 1793. He See also:

LEFT

left no family, but his See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title had been re-granted in 1792 with a See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

REMAINDER, REVERSION

remainder to his See also:

NEPHEW

nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (1727-1796). The, 2nd earl was See also:

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

ambassador to See also:

Vienna and then to See also:

Paris; . Sc was secretary of state for the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department from 1779 to 1782, and lord See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president of the See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council in 1783, and again from 1794 until his See also:

DEATH

death. In 1906 his descendant Alan David Murray (b. 1864) became 6th earl of Mansfield. Lord. Mansfield's great reputation rests chiefly on his judicial career. The political trials over which he presided, although they gave rise to numerous accusations against him, were conducted with singular fairness and propriety. He was accused with especial bitterness of favouring arbitrary power by the See also:

law which he laid down in the trials for libel which arose out of the. publications of Junius and See also:

Horne See also:

Tooke, and which at a later time he reaffirmed in the case of the See also:

dean of St See also:

ASAPH

Asaph (see LIBEL). But we must remember that his view of the law was concurred in by the great See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of the See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges and lawyers of that time, and was supported by undoubted precedents. In other instances, when the government was equally concerned, he was wholly See also:

FREE

free from suspicion.

He supported Lord Camden's decision against general warrants, and reversed the See also:

OUTLAWRY

outlawry of Wilkes. He was always ready to protect the rights of See also:

con-See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science, whether they were claimed by Dissenters or Catholics, and the popular fury which led to the destruction of his house during the See also:

Gordon riots was mainly due to the fact that a See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest, who was accused of saying See also:

Mass, had escaped the penal See also:

LAWS

laws by his See also:

charge to the jury. His chief celebrity, however, is founded upon the consummate ability with which he discharged the See also:

CIVIL

civil duties of his office. He has always been, recognized as the founder of English See also:

MERCANTILE (or COMMERCIAL) AGENCIES

mercantile law. The' See also:

COMMON

common law as it existed before his time was wholly inadequate to See also:

cope with the new cases and customs which arose with the increasing 'development of See also:

commerce. The facts were left to the jury to decide as best they might, and no principle was ever, extracted from them which might serve as a See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide in subsequent cases. , Mansfield found the law in this chaotic state, and left it in a See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form that was almost ecauivalent to a (1892), I Ch. 506, 546; A.C. 356. In general usage, the See also:

TERM

term " See also:

MANSION (through O. Fr. mansion, mod. maison, from Lat. mansio, dwelling-place, stage on a journey; manere, to remain)

mansion " is given to any large and important house in See also:

TOWN

town or See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country; and " mansion house " to the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence, when provided, of the See also:

mayor of a See also:

borough, particularly to that of the lord mayors of See also:

LONDON

London and See also:

DUBLIN

Dublin.

End of Article: MANSFIELD, WILLIAM MURRAY, 1ST EARL

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