DOCSLIB.ORG

Magna Carta and the Right to Trial by Jury Thomas J

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Magna Carta and the Right to Trial by Jury Thomas J College of William & Mary Law School William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository Faculty Publications Faculty and Deans 2014 Magna Carta and the Right to Trial by Jury Thomas J. McSweeney William & Mary Law School, [email protected] Repository Citation McSweeney, Thomas J., "Magna Carta and the Right to Trial by Jury" (2014). Faculty Publications. 1722. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs/1722 Copyright c 2014 by the authors. This article is brought to you by the William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/facpubs Randy J. Hollan Foreword by John G. Roberts,Jr., LAW ChiefJustice of the United States THOMSON REUTERS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Published by Thomson Reuters, in association with the Library of Congress legalsol utions. thomsonreuters. com www.loc.gov Mat.# 41692317 © 2014 Thomson Reuters Dust jacket image credits: King John of England (r.ll99-1216). 1215 Exemplar of Magna Carta. Great Charter of Liberties. Manuscript on parchment, June 1215. Courtesy of Lincoln Cathedral, England (front cover) The signing of Magna Carta illustrated in Cassell's History of England, Volume l. London: Cassell, 1903. General Collections, Library of Congress (back cover) England's Lord ChiefJustice Edward Coke bars King James I from the "King's Court" making the court, by law, independent of the executive branch of government. Bronze doors of Supreme Court, Washington, D.C. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States (inside front flap) MAGNA CARTA AND THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY Thomas J McSweeney' Magna Carta is often invoked as the primal source of the right to trial by jury. The influential English legal commentator Sir Wi lli am Blackstone trumpeted Magna Carta's guarantee of trial by jury.2 American constitutio nal debates reg­ ularly cited Magna Carta in connection with th e ri ght to jury trial. And linkages between jury trial rights and Magna Carta continue today. T he United States Supreme Court wrote as recently as 2005 that in England, "th e right to a jury trial had been enshrined since the Magna Carta."3 Lawyers invoke Magna Carta's her­ itage in their briefs and summations injury trials. Magna Carta is often identifi ed as the origin of the right to a jury trial in popular writing as we ll. ' Digging d eepe r into the history of Magna Carta, however, reveals a more compli cated reality. Magna Carta's ·: judgment of his peers" language, which many associate with the jury trial right, did not guarantee tri al by jury. The lin ks between Magna Carta and th e jury trial guarantee were actuall y fo rged centuries aft er th e issuance of the original document in 1215. The English Jury Before 1215 T he history of the common law jury begins about fifty years before Magna Car­ ta, during the reign of King Henry II (r. 11 54-11 89). Henry became king at the end of a long and destructive civil war, a tim e wh en one chronicl er said that "Christ and his saints slept."'' T he memory of the civil war and the disorder it caused may have been in H enry's mind wh en he began th e reforms of land law and criminal law that would ultimately come to be seen as the beginnings of the common law;" Henry proposed many of his reforms as a way to restore the Medieval jury depicted in Grand Coutumier de Normandie [Customary Law of Normandy]. Illustrated manu script on vellum, ca. 1450-1 470. Law Library, Library of Congress 139 Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor kingdom to its state befo re the civil wa r7 [t is also possible that he was rn o ti va ted to steal jud icial busin ess frorn the many local courts that existed th roughout England.HW hateve r the reason, Hen ry insti tuted new proced ures hJr his royal courts, procedures which mack the co u rts easier to use and more access ible, eve n to people at: the low end of the socia l scale.'' O n the civil side, I !enry introduced new procedures called ass izes. T he first o f these assizes was the assize utrum, whi ch Henry p robabl y autho ri zed in 11 64 as part of an o ngoin g fight he was havin g with his bisho ps. In that year, H enry iss ued a text call ed the Constitutio ns o f Clarendon, which he claimed was a state­ men t o f the "customs, liberti es, and d igni ties o f his p redecessors . .. which ough t to be obse rved and kep t in the kingd om" concerning the relatio nship be tween the crown and the Churc h . 111 Chapter nine of the co nsti tutions dealt with the iss ue of land held by the Church. In the twelfth cen tury, it was f·~t irl y cornmon fo r land holders to d onate land to the Church . Do nations of land to Chu rch bodies like parish chu rches o r rn onaste ri es we re tho ught to be good fo r one's soul and created a relatio nshi p with the parish or monaste ry that co n tinued after the do no r's death , as the priests and mon ks wc>Ldd re rn e rn ber the do nor in their prayers . Ce rtain types o f land owned by the Church, kn own as land held as free alms, were exem pt: from the jurisd icti on o f the king's courts. 11 According to the Church 's cano n law, disputes concerning land held as free alrn s could no t be heard in the king 's co urt:, o nl y in th e co urts of the Church, which we re extensive in the twelfth c e n t u r y . ' ~ Henry recogni zed the Church's excl usive jurisdiction over land held in free alms. T he questi o n was, what happened when it was n 't clear whether the land was held as free alms or lay lee? Did the royal court o r the ecclesias ti cal court get to decide who had _ju risdiction? l11 chapter nine o f the Constitutio ns of· Clarendo n, Hem y answered that it was the royal co urt that had the ri ght to decide. Chapter nine connnancl ed that "1fa d ispute shall arise be tween a clerk and a layman, or between a layman and a cle rk, in res pect or any holding which the cl erk desires to treat as free alms, bu t: th e layman as lay k e, it shall be determined by the recognition o r twelve lawful tp en thmugh th e deliberatio n, in the presence of the kin g's chi ef 1 1 justice, whether the ho ldi11 g pertains to free alms o r to lay fee." : T he ass ize u.tru:m (Lati11 fo r "whethe r," since the assize decides whethe r the land is held in lay k e or fr ~ e alm s) was the new p rocedure that H enry introduced to decide iss ues o f lay fee o r free alms. T he ass ize was begun by royal wri t, a tra­ d iti o nal LOo l of royal ad ministratio n, and in clu ded a key role fo r laymen. Wri ts were essen tia ll y sho rt docume nts issued by the royal chancery in the kin g's name that: comma1tded o ne o f· the king's offi cials or subjects to do something. T hey 140 Magna Carta and the Right to Trial by Jury had been used in England since Anglo-Saxon times. Instead o r being an individ­ ualized command from the king, the assize utrum used a standard fo rm. Any of the king's subjects could purchase a writ or command in this gene ral form, and a cl e rk coulcllill in the specifi c infonnation. 11 T he writ took the fo ll owin g form: The king to the she riff, greetin g. If A. shall have give n you security e tc. , summon , by good sunnnone rs , twelve free and law rul me n of the viii of N. that they be before ourjustices at the first assize wh e n they sha ll have CO lli e into those pans, pre pared to recogni1.e on oath wh. e th e r te n acres of land with appurtenances in N. is the lay fee of the sa id A. or free alms belo nging to the church of N. which B. , the cl eri c, holds; and in the meantime le t them vi ew that land and cause their names to be recorded in writing, a nd summon by good summoners the said B. , cleric, that he be th e re at the time to hear that recognition, and have the re the surn­ lll o ners and this writ. 'vVitn ess, etc. ''• Writs such as these emerged as mainstays of the royal courts. By introducing the jury-the twelve free and lawrul me n who were commanded to CO lli e hear the case-into the assize u.tru.111 , the jury too became a mainstay or English law. His­ torians debate the origin of He nry's idea to use juries.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Law and Constitution
    Commission on Justice in Wales: Supplementary evidence of the Welsh Government to the Commission on Justice in Wales Contents Law and the Constitution 1 History and evolution 1 Problems operating Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act from 2011 onwards 4 Draft Wales Bill (2015) 7 Wales Act 2017 9 Accessibility of the law in Wales (and England) 10 Government and Laws in Wales Bill 12 Implications of creating a Welsh legal jurisdiction 15 Conclusion 18 Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg. This document is also available in Welsh. © Crown copyright 2018 2 | Supplementary evidence of the WelshWG35635 Government Digital to ISBN the 978-1-78937-837-5 Commission on Justice in Wales Law and the Constitution 1. This paper is supplementary to the Welsh on designing a system of government that is the Government’s submission of 4 June 2018. most effective and produces the best outcomes for It focusses specifically on the law and the legal the people of Wales. Instead we have constitutional jurisdiction and its impact on government in Wales. arrangements which are often complex, confusing It also considers the potential impact of creating and incoherent. a Welsh legal jurisdiction and devolving the justice 5. One of the key junctures came in 2005 with system on the legal professions in Wales. the proposal to create what was to become a fully 2. The paper explores the incremental and fledged legislature for Wales. The advent of full piecemeal way in which Wales’ current system law making powers was a seminal moment and of devolved government has developed.
    [Show full text]
  • THE RATIONAL STRENGTH of ENGLISH LAW AUSTRALIA the Law Book Co
    THE RATIONAL STRENGTH OF ENGLISH LAW AUSTRALIA The Law Book Co. of Australasia Pty Ltd. Sydney : Melbourne : Brisbane CANADA AND U.S.A. The Carswell Company Limited Toronto INDIA N. M. Tripathi Limited Bombay NEW ZEALAND Legal Publications Ltd. Wellington THE HAMLYN LECTURES THIRD SERIES THE RATIONAL STRENGTH OF ENGLISH LAW BY F. H. LAWSON, D.c.L. of Gray's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Comparative Law in the University of Oxford LONDON STEVENS & SONS LIMITED 1951 First published in 1951 by Stevens & Sons Limited of 119 <fe 120 Chancery IJine London - Law Publishers and printed in Great Britain by the Eastern Press Ltd. of London and Reading CONTENTS The Hamlyn Trust ..... page vii 1. SOURCES AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE LAW 3 2. CONTRACT ....... 41 3. PROPERTY 75 4. TORTS ........ 109 5. CONCLUSION ....... 143 HAMLYN LECTURERS 1949. The Right Hon. Sir Alfred Denning 1950. Richard O'Sullivan, K.C. 1951. F. H. Lawson, D.C.L. VI THE HAMLYN TRUST HE Hamlyn Trust came into existence under the will of the late Miss Emma Warburton THamlyn of Torquay, who died in 1941 aged 80. She came of an old and well-known Devon family. Her father, William Bussell Hamlyn, practised in Torquay as a solicitor for many years. She was a woman of dominant character, intelligent and cultured, well versed in literature, music, and art, and a lover of her country. She inherited a taste for law, and studied the subject. She travelled frequently on the Continent and about the Mediterranean and gathered impressions of comparative jurisprudence and ethnology.
    [Show full text]
  • Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
    No. 15-___ IN THE SEQUENOM, INC., Petitioner, v. ARIOSA DIAGNOSTICS, INC., NATERA, INC., AND DNA DIAGNOSTICS CENTER, INC. Respondents. On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI Michael J. Malecek Thomas C. Goldstein Robert Barnes Counsel of Record KAYE SCHOLER LLP Eric F. Citron Two Palo Alto Square G OLDSTEIN & RUSSELL, P.C. Suite 400 7475 Wisconsin Ave. 3000 El Camino Real Suite 850 Palo Alto, CA 94306 Bethesda, MD 20814 (650) 319-4500 (202) 362-0636 [email protected] QUESTION PRESENTED In 1996, two doctors discovered cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) circulating in maternal plasma. They used that discovery to invent a test for detecting fetal genetic conditions in early pregnancy that avoided dangerous, invasive techniques. Their patent teaches technicians to take a maternal blood sample, keep the non-cellular portion (which was “previously discarded as medical waste”), amplify the genetic material with- in (which they alone knew about), and identify pater- nally inherited sequences as a means of distinguish- ing fetal and maternal DNA. Notably, this method does not preempt other demonstrated uses of cffDNA. The Federal Circuit “agree[d]” that this invention “combined and utilized man-made tools of biotechnol- ogy in a new way that revolutionized prenatal care.” Pet.App. 18a. But it still held that Mayo Collabora- tive Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., 132 S. Ct. 1289 (2012), makes all such inventions patent-ineligible as a matter of law if their new combination involves only a “natural phenomenon” and techniques that were “routine” or “conventional” on their own.
    [Show full text]
  • “English Law and Descent Into Complexity”
    “ENGLISH LAW AND DESCENT INTO COMPLEXITY” GRAY’S INN READING BY LORD JUSTICE HADDON-CAVE Barnard’s Inn – 17th June 2021 ABSTRACT The Rule of Law requires that the law is simple, clear and accessible. Yet English law has in become increasingly more complex, unclear and inaccessible. As modern life becomes more complex and challenging, we should pause and reflect whether this increasingly complexity is the right direction and what it means for fairness and access to justice. This lecture examines the main areas of our legal system, legislation, procedure and judgments, and seeks to identify some of the causes of complexity and considers what scope there is for creating a better, simpler and brighter future for the law. Introduction 1. I am grateful to Gresham College for inviting me to give this year’s Gray’s Inn Reading.1 It is a privilege to follow a long line of distinguished speakers from our beloved Inn, most recently, Lord Carlisle QC who spoke last year on De-radicalisation – Illusion or Reality? 2. I would like to pay tribute to the work of Gresham College and in particular to the extraordinary resource that it makes available to us all in the form of 1,800 free public lectures available online stretching back nearly 40 years to Lord Scarman’s lecture Human Rights and the Democratic Process.2 For some of us who have not got out much recently, it has been a source of comfort and stimulation, in addition to trying to figure out the BBC series Line of Duty. 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Writ of Possession
    FORM 11 WRIT OF POSSESSION This document should be delivered to the Clerk of the Court after the Court enters the final judgment evicting the Tenant. The Clerk will sign this Writ. After the Clerk signs this Writ, it must be delivered to the Sheriff to be served upon the Tenant and who, if necessary, will forcibly evict the Tenant after 24 hours from the time of service. If requested by the Landlord to do so, the Sheriff shall stand by to keep the peace while the Landlord changes the locks and removes personal property from the premises. When such a request is made; the Sheriff may charge a reasonable hourly rate, and the person requesting the Sheriff to stand by to keep the peace shall be responsible for paying the reasonable hourly rate set by the Sheriff. SOURCE: Section 83.62, Florida Statutes (2007) FORM NOTES ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND MAY NOT COMPLETELY DESCRIBE REQUIREMENTS OF FLORIDA LAW. YOU SHOULD CONSULT AN ATTORNEY AS NEEDED. IN THE COUNTY COURT, IN AND FOR __________________ COUNTY, FLORIDA [insert county in which rental property is located] _______________________________________ [insert name of Landlord] CASE NO. _________________________ [insert case number assigned Plaintiff, by Clerk of the Court] vs. ________________________________________ WRIT OF POSSESSION [insert name of Tenant] Defendant. / STATE OF FLORIDA TO THE SHERIFF OF ______________________ [insert county in which rental property is located] COUNTY, FLORIDA: YOU ARE COMMANDED to remove all persons from the following described property in __________________ [insert county in which rental property is located] County, Florida: _________________________________________________________________________________ [insert legal or street description of rental premises including, if applicable, unit number] and to put _______________________________________________ [insert Landlord's name] in possession of it.
    [Show full text]
  • Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law
    Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law Professor Paul Brand, FBA Emeritus Fellow All Souls College, Oxford Paper related to a presentation given for the High Court Public Lecture series, at the High Court of Australia, Canberra, Courtroom 1, 13 May 2015 Magna Carta and the Development of the Common Law I We are about to commemorate the eight hundredth anniversary of the granting by King John on 15 June 1215 of a ‘charter of liberties’ in favour of all the free men of his kingdom [of England] and their heirs. That charter was not initially called Magna Carta (or ‘the Great Charter’, in English). It only acquired that name after it had been revised and reissued twice and after the second reissue had been accompanied by the issuing of a separate, but related, Charter of the Forest. The revised version of 1217 was called ‘The Great Charter’ simply to distinguish it from the shorter, and therefore smaller, Forest Charter, but the name stuck. To call it a ‘charter of liberties’ granted by king John to ‘all the free men of his kingdom’ of England is, however, in certain respects misleading. The term ‘liberty’ or ‘liberties’, particularly in the context of a royal grant, did not in 1215 bear the modern meaning of a recognised human right or human rights. ‘Liberty’ in the singular could mean something closer to that, in the general sense of the ‘freedom’ or the ‘free status’ of a free man, as opposed to the ‘unfreedom’ of a villein. ‘Liberties’, though, were something different (otherwise known as ‘franchises’), generally specific privileges granted by the king, particular rights such as the right to hold a fair or a market or a particular kind of private court, the right to have a park or a rabbit warren which excluded others from hunting or an exemption such as freedom from tolls at markets or fairs.
    [Show full text]
  • POLITICS, SOCIETY and CIVIL WAR in WARWICKSHIRE, 162.0-1660 Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History
    Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History POLITICS, SOCIETY AND CIVIL WAR IN WARWICKSHIRE, 162.0-1660 Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History Series editors ANTHONY FLETCHER Professor of History, University of Durham JOHN GUY Reader in British History, University of Bristol and JOHN MORRILL Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow and Tutor of Selwyn College This is a new series of monographs and studies covering many aspects of the history of the British Isles between the late fifteenth century and the early eighteenth century. It will include the work of established scholars and pioneering work by a new generation of scholars. It will include both reviews and revisions of major topics and books which open up new historical terrain or which reveal startling new perspectives on familiar subjects. It is envisaged that all the volumes will set detailed research into broader perspectives and the books are intended for the use of students as well as of their teachers. Titles in the series The Common Peace: Participation and the Criminal Law in Seventeenth-Century England CYNTHIA B. HERRUP Politics, Society and Civil War in Warwickshire, 1620—1660 ANN HUGHES London Crowds in the Reign of Charles II: Propaganda and Politics from the Restoration to the Exclusion Crisis TIM HARRIS Criticism and Compliment: The Politics of Literature in the Reign of Charles I KEVIN SHARPE Central Government and the Localities: Hampshire 1649-1689 ANDREW COLEBY POLITICS, SOCIETY AND CIVIL WAR IN WARWICKSHIRE, i620-1660 ANN HUGHES Lecturer in History, University of Manchester The right of the University of Cambridge to print and sell all manner of books was granted by Henry VIII in 1534.
    [Show full text]
  • Saint's Law: Anglo-Saxon Sanctuary Protection in the Translatio Et Miracula S. Swithuni1
    Saint’s Law: Anglo-Saxon Sanctuary Protection in the Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni 1 John P. Sexton Patrick Wormald’s handlist of Anglo-Saxon lawsuits begins its gesta and miracula evi- dence with three consecutive suits from Lantfred of Winchester’s c. 972 Translatio et Miracula S. Swithuni.2 The suits, which appear in chapters 25-27, describe the trial by ordeal of a servant accused of “a certain misdeed” (quodam facinore, 25.3), the mutila- tion of a man accused of robbery, and an “arraignment of a man for appropriation of the king’s corn.”3 Although Wormald classifies the third item, like the first, as a “rescue from prison or penalty” case in contrast to the sanctuary cases he identifies in the Vita S. Edithae Virginis and De Miraculis S. Edmundi,4 the corn-appropriation or “wheat- thief” episode rightly belongs in both categories since it intentionally evokes the defin- ing characteristics of sanctuary protection in pre-Conquest legislation. Sanctuary mir- acles are, in fact, quite common in the Anglo-Saxon hagiographic record, informed by 1 I use the modern historian’s term “sanctuary” throughout to indicate the full spectrum of asylum- taking traditions. For a discussion of the various terms employed during the medieval period, see Shoe- maker,“Medieval Sanctuary Law,”22-29. I am grateful to Dr. Shoemaker for providing me with a copy of his dissertation. 2 Wormald,“A Handlist,”269. The three cases are numbered 154-156. The “wheat-thief” episode is retold in Wulfstan of Winchester’s c. 994 Narratio Metrica de Sancto Swithuno (2.10).
    [Show full text]
  • The Sasswood Ordeal of the West Atlantic Tribes of Sierra Leone And
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 8-27-1973 The as sswood ordeal of the west Atlantic tribes of Sierra Leone and Liberia: an ethnohistoriographic survey Sarah Louise Davies Portland State University Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the African Studies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Davies, Sarah Louise, "The ass swood ordeal of the west Atlantic tribes of Sierra Leone and Liberia: an ethnohistoriographic survey" (1973). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 1675. 10.15760/etd.1674 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Sarah Louise Davies for the Master of Arts in Anthropology presented August 27, 1973. Title: The Sasswood Ordeal of the West Atlantic Tribes of Sierra Leone and Liberia: An Ethnohistoriographic St;.rve.y APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS .COMMITTEE: John H. Atherton, Chairman . Joe,:~>E. Pierce The sasswood ordeal of poison presents a diviaatory r:Ltnal which has been used in criminal cases by. the traditional African of Sierra Leone and Liberia. For at least six hundred years., the peoples of these present countries have imposed this strictest o~· ordeals on 2 their moral transgre.ssors; und the p-.ract:tc.e has stn:·vivc:d,. despite. the protestations of nineteenth-century missionarit~.2 and the encroachment of the western world~ 'rhe investigation of· the historical ev:L.den.ce of the sas::.nJfhJd ordt:~ciJ among the West Atlantic td.bes of Africa has three basic.
    [Show full text]
  • The Constitution of the United States [PDF]
    THE CONSTITUTION oftheUnitedStates NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER We the People of the United States, in Order to form a within three Years after the fi rst Meeting of the Congress more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Constitution for the United States of America. Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut fi ve, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland Article.I. six, Virginia ten, North Carolina fi ve, South Carolina fi ve, and Georgia three. SECTION. 1. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Sen- Election to fi ll such Vacancies. ate and House of Representatives. The House of Representatives shall chuse their SECTION. 2. Speaker and other Offi cers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Mem- bers chosen every second Year by the People of the several SECTION.
    [Show full text]
  • English Radicalism and the Struggle for Reform
    English Radicalism and the Struggle for Reform The Library of Sir Geoffrey Bindman, QC. Part I. BERNARD QUARITCH LTD MMXX BERNARD QUARITCH LTD 36 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JH tel.: +44 (0)20 7297 4888 fax: +44 (0)20 7297 4866 email: [email protected] / [email protected] web: www.quaritch.com Bankers: Barclays Bank PLC 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Sort code: 20-65-90 Account number: 10511722 Swift code: BUKBGB22 Sterling account: IBAN: GB71 BUKB 2065 9010 5117 22 Euro account: IBAN: GB03 BUKB 2065 9045 4470 11 U.S. Dollar account: IBAN: GB19 BUKB 2065 9063 9924 44 VAT number: GB 322 4543 31 Front cover: from item 106 (Gillray) Rear cover: from item 281 (Peterloo Massacre) Opposite: from item 276 (‘Martial’) List 2020/1 Introduction My father qualified in medicine at Durham University in 1926 and practised in Gateshead on Tyne for the next 43 years – excluding 6 years absence on war service from 1939 to 1945. From his student days he had been an avid book collector. He formed relationships with antiquarian booksellers throughout the north of England. His interests were eclectic but focused on English literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. Several of my father’s books have survived in the present collection. During childhood I paid little attention to his books but in later years I too became a collector. During the war I was evacuated to the Lake District and my school in Keswick incorporated Greta Hall, where Coleridge lived with Robert Southey and his family. So from an early age the Lake Poets were a significant part of my life and a focus of my book collecting.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LEGACY of the MAGNA CARTA MAGNA CARTA 1215 the Magna Carta Controlled the Power Government Ruled with the Consent of Eventually Spreading Around the Globe
    THE LEGACY OF THE MAGNA CARTA MAGNA CARTA 1215 The Magna Carta controlled the power government ruled with the consent of eventually spreading around the globe. of the King for the first time in English the people. The Magna Carta was only Reissues of the Magna Carta reminded history. It began the tradition of respect valid for three months before it was people of the rights and freedoms it gave for the law, limits on government annulled, but the tradition it began them. Its inclusion in the statute books power, and a social contract where the has lived on in English law and society, meant every British lawyer studied it. PETITION OF RIGHT 1628 Sir Edward Coke drafted a document King Charles I was not persuaded by By creating the Petition of Right which harked back to the Magna Carta the Petition and continued to abuse Parliament worked together to and aimed to prevent royal interference his power. This led to a civil war, and challenge the King. The English Bill with individual rights and freedoms. the King ultimately lost power, and his of Rights and the Constitution of the Though passed by the Parliament, head! United States were influenced by it. HABEAS CORPUS ACT 1679 The writ of Habeas Corpus gives imprisonment. In 1697 the House of Habeas Corpus is a writ that exists in a person who is imprisoned the Lords passed the Habeas Corpus Act. It many countries with common law opportunity to go before a court now applies to everyone everywhere in legal systems. and challenge the lawfulness of their the United Kingdom.
    [Show full text]