James Marriott
Encyclopedia
Sir James Marriott was a prominent British judge, politician and scholar of the late eighteenth century who is best known for his service at the High Court of Admiralty, the highest court in Britain dealing with naval and maritime affairs. Although he presided over a number of important naval cases, his contribution to legal history lies principally in the publication of Formulare instrumentarum, a text on admiralty law that had a significant influence on American law in particular. For the rest of his career, Marriott was a shameless pursuer of political favour, siding with several factions both before and during his service as Member of Parliament
for Sudbury
between 1780 and 1784 and 1796 and 1802. He was less successful in other areas of his life: he served as a Fellow and subsequently Master at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
, but quarrelled with his colleagues and rarely attended the College. He also produced a number of legal pamphlets and poems, which his biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes as "slender literary accomplishments".
. In June 1746 he was sent to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
, and was elected a scholar in 1747 and graduated LLB in 1751. Although he originally intended a career in the church, he switched to the legal profession in 1755, possibly due to the influence of his stepfather Everard Sayer, a prominent lawyer. He completed an LLD
in 1757, having spent the previous three years as librarian to the Duke of Newcastle and having been made a Fellow of Trinity Hall in 1756. He subsequently joined the College of Advocates and began an undistinguished legal career in which he published twice on the issue of neutral's rights.
It was while in the service of Lord Newcastle that he began his life-long obsession with patronage, securing the position of Receiver of Land Tax for Suffolk
, but otherwise achieving little until the accession of King George III
in 1760, when he transferred his allegiance to the King's new ministers, alienating Newcastle in the process. In 1764 he was elected Master of Trinity Hall and in 1767 was made king's advocate, although in both cases the promotion had more to do with a lack of suitable candidates than Marriott's own abilities. In 1767 he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge for a year and in 1768 was prevented from taking up the position of Professor of Modern History
by Thomas Gray
.
For the next ten years he relentlessly demanded further promotion, provoking Lord Grafton
to fury in the process, but did not receive anything further until 1778 when he was knighted
and made the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, responsible for naval and maritime cases. His service as king's advocate was considered unimpressive, particularly his lack of discretion and courtroom manners and his aggressive speeches against the American colonies and his own colleagues. In 1781 he was elected to Parliament
for Sudbury
as a supporter of Lord North
, making a severe gaffe by seriously suggesting in response to American claims of "no taxation without representation
" that the Americans were actually represented by Kent
based on the original charters of the Thirteen Colonies
. When North resigned, Marriott immediately switched allegiance to Lord Shelburne
and the anti-war party, but did not contest his seat at the 1784 election. In 1786 he was again named as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, but refused the post on the basis of his legal work. He subsequently sat on several admiralty boards and revised the laws regarding prize money
in 1793.
The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
in 1793 and the corresponding increase in naval activity greatly strained Marriott's work load, although he produced some notable decisions, particularly in a 1794 case in which Captain Francis Laforey
of HMS Carysfort
sued the Admiralty
over the prize money
to be awarded for his capture of the French frigate
Castor
at the Frigate action of 29 May 1794
. In that case, Marriott found in favour of Laforey's claim, setting a precedent in the laws of salvage. He was also re-elected for Sudbury in 1796 after some highly questionable activity: he initially supported the existing MP John Coxe Hippisley
, only to withdraw his support at a late stage and announce his own candidacy, causing Hippisley to resign in anger at his behaviour. Marriott remained in Parliament until 1802, shortly before his death.
Marriott resigned from the Admiralty in 1798, to be replaced by Sir William Scott
, generally considered to be a much more able man. He returned to Twinstead Hall and remained there until his death on 21 March 1803, having substantially redeveloped the house and rebuilt the local church. The year before he died he created his most important work, Formulare instrumentarum, a text based on his work with admiralty law that had a strong influence on maritime law in the United States
. Aside from his final work, he produced a number of poems and legal texts of little distinction, described as describes as "slender literary accomplishments". He never married, his one effort in 1760 ending in refusal by both the girl and her father. Instead he remained devoted to his mother until her death.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Sudbury
Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Sudbury was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, it returned two Members of Parliament from 1559 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844...
between 1780 and 1784 and 1796 and 1802. He was less successful in other areas of his life: he served as a Fellow and subsequently Master at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
, but quarrelled with his colleagues and rarely attended the College. He also produced a number of legal pamphlets and poems, which his biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes as "slender literary accomplishments".
Life
James Marriott was born on 29 October 1730, the son of attorney Benjamin Marriott and his wife Esther at Twinstead Hall in EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. In June 1746 he was sent to Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
, and was elected a scholar in 1747 and graduated LLB in 1751. Although he originally intended a career in the church, he switched to the legal profession in 1755, possibly due to the influence of his stepfather Everard Sayer, a prominent lawyer. He completed an LLD
Legum Doctor
Legum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
in 1757, having spent the previous three years as librarian to the Duke of Newcastle and having been made a Fellow of Trinity Hall in 1756. He subsequently joined the College of Advocates and began an undistinguished legal career in which he published twice on the issue of neutral's rights.
It was while in the service of Lord Newcastle that he began his life-long obsession with patronage, securing the position of Receiver of Land Tax for Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, but otherwise achieving little until the accession of King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
in 1760, when he transferred his allegiance to the King's new ministers, alienating Newcastle in the process. In 1764 he was elected Master of Trinity Hall and in 1767 was made king's advocate, although in both cases the promotion had more to do with a lack of suitable candidates than Marriott's own abilities. In 1767 he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge for a year and in 1768 was prevented from taking up the position of Professor of Modern History
Regius Professor of Modern History (Cambridge)
Regius Professor of Modern History is one of the senior professorships in history at Cambridge University. It was founded in 1724 by George I. The appointment is by Royal Warrant on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of the day...
by Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray
Thomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
.
For the next ten years he relentlessly demanded further promotion, provoking Lord Grafton
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC , styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era...
to fury in the process, but did not receive anything further until 1778 when he was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
and made the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, responsible for naval and maritime cases. His service as king's advocate was considered unimpressive, particularly his lack of discretion and courtroom manners and his aggressive speeches against the American colonies and his own colleagues. In 1781 he was elected to Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Sudbury
Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Sudbury was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. A parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, it returned two Members of Parliament from 1559 until it was disenfranchised for corruption in 1844...
as a supporter of Lord North
Frederick North, Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC , more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence...
, making a severe gaffe by seriously suggesting in response to American claims of "no taxation without representation
No taxation without representation
"No taxation without representation" is a slogan originating during the 1750s and 1760s that summarized a primary grievance of the British colonists in the Thirteen Colonies, which was one of the major causes of the American Revolution...
" that the Americans were actually represented by Kent
Kent (UK Parliament constituency)
Kent was a parliamentary constituency covering the county of Kent in southeast England. It returned two "knights of the shire" to the House of Commons by the bloc vote system from the year 1290...
based on the original charters of the Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
. When North resigned, Marriott immediately switched allegiance to Lord Shelburne
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC , known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782–1783 during the final...
and the anti-war party, but did not contest his seat at the 1784 election. In 1786 he was again named as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, but refused the post on the basis of his legal work. He subsequently sat on several admiralty boards and revised the laws regarding prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
in 1793.
The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
in 1793 and the corresponding increase in naval activity greatly strained Marriott's work load, although he produced some notable decisions, particularly in a 1794 case in which Captain Francis Laforey
Francis Laforey
Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, 2nd Baronet, KCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, whose distinguished service record included numerous frigate commands in Home waters and in the West Indies...
of HMS Carysfort
HMS Carysfort
Five ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Carysfort, after numerous holders of the title of Baron, or Earl, of Carysfort:*HMS Carysfort was a 28-gun sixth rate launched in 1766 and sold in 1813....
sued the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
over the prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
to be awarded for his capture of the French frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Castor
HMS Castor (1785)
HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her...
at the Frigate action of 29 May 1794
Frigate action of 29 May 1794
The frigate action of 29 May 1794—not to be confused with the much larger fleet action of 29 May 1794 that took place in the same waters at the same time—was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars between a Royal Navy frigate and a French Navy frigate...
. In that case, Marriott found in favour of Laforey's claim, setting a precedent in the laws of salvage. He was also re-elected for Sudbury in 1796 after some highly questionable activity: he initially supported the existing MP John Coxe Hippisley
John Coxe Hippisley
Sir John Coxe Hippisley, 1st Baronet , was a British diplomat and politician who pursued an ‘unflagging, though wholly unsuccessful, quest for office’ which led King George III of Great Britain to describe him as ‘that busy man’ and ‘the grand intriguer’.-Early life and overseas appointments:Born...
, only to withdraw his support at a late stage and announce his own candidacy, causing Hippisley to resign in anger at his behaviour. Marriott remained in Parliament until 1802, shortly before his death.
Marriott resigned from the Admiralty in 1798, to be replaced by Sir William Scott
William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell
William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell was an English judge and jurist.-Background and education:Scott was born at Heworth, a village about four miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of a coalfitter . His younger brother John Scott became Lord Chancellor and was made Earl of Eldon...
, generally considered to be a much more able man. He returned to Twinstead Hall and remained there until his death on 21 March 1803, having substantially redeveloped the house and rebuilt the local church. The year before he died he created his most important work, Formulare instrumentarum, a text based on his work with admiralty law that had a strong influence on maritime law in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Aside from his final work, he produced a number of poems and legal texts of little distinction, described as describes as "slender literary accomplishments". He never married, his one effort in 1760 ending in refusal by both the girl and her father. Instead he remained devoted to his mother until her death.