Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine ( Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine ; 1750 - 1823 ) - one of the most famous and successful lawyers in England in the late XVIII and early XIX centuries. Famous liberal , ally of C.J. Fox and R. B. Sheridan in parliament. In the " government of all talents " (1807) he served as Lord Chancellor .
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| Awards and prizes | member of the Royal Society of London |
Biography
As the youngest son of Henry David Erskine , 10th Earl of Buchan, he could claim a place in high society, but due to financial constraints, he was forced to enter a warship with only a midshipman (1764). In an anonymous pamphlet of 1772, he spoke out against abuses in the armed forces of his time. In 1775 he entered the Lincolns Inn as a lawyer and quickly gained a reputation as one of the most eloquent court attorneys .
When, with the start of the French Revolution, the Pitt government began to persecute the radicals and Jacobins on charges of treason, Erskine sided with the persecuted, thereby helping to bring down a wave of repression. Among other victims of the government, he defended Thomas Payne when he was put on trial for publishing Human Rights [5] . This case did not bring him success, moreover, his most senior client, the Prince of Wales , refused the services of Erskine.
In 1800, Thomas Erskine saved James Hadfield from the death penalty, who attempted the assassination of King George III . He managed to prove in court that mental insanity frees the criminal from responsibility for the consequences of his actions, which at that time was considered a new word in jurisprudence. Erskine’s collections of court speeches , which were distinguished by their clarity of presentation of the position, diverged in large numbers, especially among young lawyers.
In parallel with the lawyer, the parliamentary career of Erskine was developing. He was a member of the House of Commons in 1783-84 and 1790-1806, after which he moved to the House of Lords as a peer of England . After participating in the “government of all talents” for 14 months, he withdrew from active public life, deciding to devote himself to his family. His last high-profile case was the defense of Queen Carolina from accusations of adultery by George IV .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography / C. Matthew - Oxford : OUP , 2004.
- ↑ Internet Speculative Fiction Database - 1995.
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ BNF ID : 2011 Open Data Platform .
- ↑ Pan, Thomas // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
Literature
- Erskine // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- J Hostettler. Thomas Erskine and Trial by Jury . Chichester: Barry Rose Law Publishers Ltd, 1996. ISBN 1-872328-23-7 .
- JA Lovat-Fraser. Erskine . Cambridge University Press, 1932.
- LP Stryker. For the Defense: Thomas Erskine, One of the Most Enlightened Men of His Times, 1750–1823 . London: Staples Press Ltd, 1949.