Francis Maseres was an English lawyer. He is known as attorney general

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 of the Province of Quebec, judge, mathematician, historian, member of the Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

, and cursitor baron of the exchequer

Exchequer of pleas

The Exchequer of Pleas or Court of Exchequer was a court that followed equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law, and common law, in England and Wales. Originally part of the curia regis, or King's Council, the Exchequer of Pleas split from the curia during the 1190s, to sit as an...

.

Biography

Francis Maseres was born in London on December 15, 1731. His parents were Magdalene du Pratt du Clareau and Peter Abraham Maseres, physician. The Maseres family (Masères) were French Protestants who left France after the revocation of Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...

 in 1685. He was fluent in French. He had a brother, named Peter.

He studied in Rev. Richard Wooddeson's School in Kingston-upon-Thames, then entered the Clare College of the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

, where he obtained a bachelor of arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 (1752) and a master of arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 (1755). He entered the Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 to study law in 1750, and was admitted to the bar in 1758.

On March 4, 1766, he was appointed attorney general of the new British Province of Quebec, the former French Canada conquered in 1760 and definitively ceded by France through the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1763)

The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...

 in 1763. He was sworn in office on September 26, 1766 and exercised his functions until the autumn of 1769.

In March 1768, the Carleton

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...

 government requested of him a report on the reform of the province's law system. He submitted his report in February 1769.

Upon his return to London, he continued to take interest in American colonial affairs. In an essay published in 1770, he recommended that the colonies be represented as quickly as possible in the House of Commons. He was elected member of the Royal Society of London in 1771 and made cursitor baron of the exchequer in August 1773. He was elected senior judge of sheriff’s court in London in 1780.

He involved himself in the movement for a constitutional reform of Quebec which resumed at full speed with the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, and which was concluded with the adoption of the Constitutional Act

Constitutional Act of 1791

The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...

of 1791 by the British Parliament. He espoused the cause of Pierre du Calvet

Pierre du Calvet

Pierre du Calvet was a Montreal trader, justice of the peace, political prisoner and epistle writer of French Huguenot origin.- Family :...

 who intended to bring governor Frederick Haldimand

Frederick Haldimand

Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...

 before the courts for violating the British constitution.

Maseres subsidized many mathematical publications and, in particular, John Hellins

John Hellins

John Hellins FRS was an autodidact, schoolteacher, mathematician, astronomer and country parson.-Early years:He was born in Devon ca...

's multi-volume edition of John Colson

John Colson

Johnathan "John" Colson was an English clergyman and mathematician, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.John Colson was educated at Lichfield School before becoming an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford, though he did not take a degree there...

's translation of Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Maria Gaetana Agnesi was an Italian linguist, mathematician, and philosopher. Agnesi is credited with writing the first book discussing both differential and integral calculus. She was an honorary member of the faculty at the University of Bologna...

's Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventù italiana. This translation was valuable for British mathematics, but Maseres also influenced British mathematics negatively by attacking calculus and other advanced mathematical methods.

He died unmarried at his country house of Reigate

Reigate

Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...

 on May 19, 1824, at the age of 93 years old.

Works

• A Dissertation On the Use of the Negative Sign in Algebra; ..., 1758
• Elements of Plane Trigonometry:..., London, 1760 (online)
• Criminal Libel and the Duty of Juries, London, 1764 with Joseph Towers (online)
• Considerations on the Expediency of Procuring an Act of Parliament for the settlement of the province of Quebec, London, 1766
• Considérations sur la nécessité de faire voter un acte par le parlement pour régler les difficultés survenues dans la province de Québec, London, 1766 (online)
• Considerations on the Expediency of Admitting Representatives from the American Colonies into the British House of Commons, London, 1770
• A Collection of Several Commissions, and Other Public Instruments, Proceeding from His Majesty's Royal Authority, and Other Papers, Relating to the State of the Province in Quebec in North America, Since the Conquest of it by the British Arms in 1760, 1772 (online)
• A Draught of an Act of Parliament for Tolerating the Roman Catholick Religion in the Province of Quebec, and for Encouraging the Protestant Religion Into the Said Province..., London, 1772
• Draught of An Act of Parliament for Settling the Laws of the Province of Quebec, London, 1772
• A Proposal for Establishing Life-Annuities in Parishes for the Benefit of the Industrious Poor, London, 1772
• Mémoire à la défense d’un plan d’acte de parlement pour l’établissement des loix de la province de Québec [...], London, 1773
• Réponse aux observations faites par Mr. François Joseph Cugnet, secrétaire du gouverneur & Conseil de la province de Québec pour la langue françoise, sur le plan d'acte de parlement pour l’établissement des lois de la ditte province [...], London, 1773
• An Account of the Proceedings of the British, and other Protestant Inhabitants, of the Province of Quebeck, in North America, in Order to Obtain An House of Assembly in that Province, London, 1775
• Additional Papers Concerning the Province of Quebeck: Being An Appendix to the Book Entitled, "An Account of the Proceedings of the British and Other Protestant Inhabitants of the Province of Quebeck in North America in Order to Obtain a House of Assembly in that Province", London, 1776
• The Canadian Freeholder: In Two Dialogues Between an Englishman and a Frenchman, Settled in Canada..., London, 1777–1779 (vol. I, II and III)
• The Principles of the Doctrine of Life-Annuities;..., 1783 (online)
• Questions, sur lesquelles on souhaite de sçavoir les réponses de Monsieur Adhémar et de Monsieur de Lisle, et d'autres habitants de la province de Québec, London, 1784
• The Case of Peter Du Calvet, Esq., of Montreal in the Province of Quebeck: Containing (amongst other things worth notice), An Account of the Long and Severe Imprisonment He Suffered in the Said Province..., London, 1784 [written with Pierre du Calvet
  Pierre du Calvet
  Pierre du Calvet was a Montreal trader, justice of the peace, political prisoner and epistle writer of French Huguenot origin.- Family :...
  
  ] (online)
• A Review of the Government and Grievances of the Province of Quebec, Since the Conquest of it by the British Arms, London, 1788
• Answer to an Introduction to the Observations Made by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, London, 1790
• Observations on Tithes .... By William Hales...To Which is Added a Second Edition of The Moderate Reformer..., London, 1794 (online)
• The Principles of Algebra by William Frend, London, 1796 (online) [Appendix by Francis Maseres]
• The Doctrine of Permutations and Combinations:..., London, 1795 (online)
• Tracts on the Resolution of Affected Algebräick Equations by Dr. Halley's, Mr. Raphson's, and Sir Isaac Newton's, Methods of Approximation, London, 1800 (online) [with Edmond Halley, William Frend, and John Kersey]
• Scriptores logarithmici or, A collection of several curious tracts on the nature and construction of logarithms, 1791–1807, 6 volumes, London
• Occasional Essays on Various Subjects: Chiefly Political and Historical..., London, 1809 (online)
• The History of the Parliament of England... by Thomas May, London, 1812 [preface by Francis Maseres]
• Select Tracts Relating to the Civil Wars in England, in the Reign of King Charles the First: by Writers Who Lived in the Time of Those Wars and Were Witnesses of the Events Which They Describe, London, 1815 [as publisher]
• The Maseres Letters, 1766-1768, Toronto, 1919 (online)