Lord Mansfield : justice in the age of reason / Norman S. Poser.

Montreal, Quebec : McGill-Queen University Press, c2013.

1st edition

84561

Mansfield, William Murray, -- Earl of, -- 1705-1793.

Law -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.

Judges -- Great Britain -- Biography.

Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1714-1820.

Part I. Becoming Lord Mansfield

1. Scotland

2. Westminster and Oxford

3. Lincoln's Inn

4. A rising lawyer

5. Entering politics

6. Law officer of the Crown

7. Murray and the Jacobites

8. Attaining the bench and the peerage

9. The judge as a politician

10. Family affairs

11. The social scene

Part II. Justice in the age of reason

12. Chief Justice of the Court of Kings's Bench

13. Commerce and industry

14. Freedom of the press

15. Crime and punishment

16. Betting and lending

17. Slavery and the Somerset case

18. The American revolution

19. Protecting authors and inventors

20. Women and marriage

21. Religious freedom

22. The Gordon riots

23. Last years

Epilogue: Lord Mansfield's legacy.

Poser's work catalogues the extraordinary life of William Murray (later Lord Mansfield) from his beginnings with a treasonous Scottish family to the very core of Eighteenth century British establishment. In 1756 William Murray was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Kings Bench and raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Mansfield. Poser explains in detail the influence that Lord Mansfield had on commerce, freedom of the press, religious freedom, women and marriage in an entertaining book.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

9780773541832

xviii, 532 p. : ill. ports, ; 25 cm