John Eardley Wilmot
Encyclopedia
Sir John Eardley Wilmot PC (Derby
, England
, 16 August 1709 – London
, 5 February 1792), was an English
judge
, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
from 1766 to 1771.
, near Derby
, and his wife Ursula, who was the daughter of Sir Samuel Marow
, Bt
, of Berkswell
, Warwickshire
. His paternal grandfather was Sir Nicholas Wilmot (1611–1682), a serjeant-at-law
knighted in 1674. His elder brother Robert
(c.1708–1772) was another lawyer who went into the service of the crown, was knighted in 1739 and created a baronet (Wilmot of Osmaston
) in 1772.
John Eardley Wilmot was educated at Derby School
, then with Dr John Hunter at Lichfield
, where his contemporaries included Samuel Johnson
and David Garrick
. He then went to Westminster School
and Trinity Hall, Cambridge
, where he matriculated
in 1727, before studying law in London
at the Inner Temple
, as his father and older brother had done before him, and was called to the bar in 1732.
On 3 April 1743, Wilmot married Sarah Rivett (1721–1772), a daughter of Thomas Rivett of Derby, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, another Robert, died in Bengal, while his younger son, John Eardley Wilmot, became a barrister and wrote his father's memoirs. One of his daughters, Maria, married the Jewish City of London
banker Sampson Gideon, who changed his surname to Eardley and in 1789 became Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
.
John Eardley Wilmot's grandson Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet, (1783–1847), served as a member of parliament
and as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (or Tasmania
), was created a baronet
in 1821 and published An Abridgment of Blackstone's Commentaries (1822). (This example of a judge having an eminent grandson "where the son is not eminent" was quoted by Francis Galton
in his study of the hereditary genius in 1869, and he proposed that the odds on such an occurrence were thirty to one against.)
As a young barrister, John Eardley Wilmot was taken up by Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, who was Lord Chancellor
from 1733 to 1737, Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
, the next Lord Chancellor, 1737 to 1756, and Sir Dudley Ryder
, an Attorney General
and Lord Chief Justice
. Bishop John Hough
of Worcester wrote to Wilmot's aunt on 4 May 1737:
He joined the Midland Circuit and was an advocate at the Derby Assizes. Dudley Ryder appointed Wilmot a junior counsel to the Treasury
, and in 1753 he was offered promotion to King's Counsel and to serjeant-at-law
, but declined and returned to Derbyshire. However, in February 1755 he accepted the appointment as a judge of the King's Bench
and serjeant-at-law, and was knighted. In 1756, he became a Commissioner of the Great Seal
and was proposed as Lord Chancellor
, but said he didn't want it.
William Blackstone
, author of the famous Commentaries on the Laws of England
(four volumes, 1765–1769) was one of Wilmot's close friends. Blackstone wrote to him on 22 February 1766, after the publication of the first volume of the Commentaries: "Sir, Lord Mansfield did me the honour to inform me, that both you and himself had been so obliging as to mark out a few of the many errors, which I am sensible are to be met with in the Book which I lately published. Nothing can flatter me so much as that you have thought it worth the pains of such a revisal."
In August 1766, Wilmot became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
, and in September 1766 joined the Privy Council. In 1770, he again refused appointment as Lord Chancellor, and in January 1771 resigned as Chief Justice.
In the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War
, Wilmot was appointed as a royal commissioner
to investigate claims by American Loyalists
for compensation for the losses they had suffered as a result of the war.
He died in London in 1792 and was buried at Berkswell, Warwickshire, a country estate which had been inherited by his wife.
, later engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi
, another by Dance now at the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, with a copy in the Royal Courts of Justice
, and a third attributed to Joseph Wright of Derby
, now in the Inner Temple
.
A handsome posthumous portrait was painted in 1812 by Benjamin West
, showing in the background West’s allegorical painting Reception of the American Loyalists in England.
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 16 August 1709 – London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 5 February 1792), was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
from 1766 to 1771.
Family and early life
Wilmot was the second son of Robert Wilmot (1669–1738), of Osmaston HallOsmaston Hall
Osmaston Hall was built in 1696 in extensive grounds of what is now Osmaston, a part of Derby. The house was the home of the Wilmot Baronets, and the Fox family before being used for a golf club and railway business. The house was demolished in 1938.-History:...
, near Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, and his wife Ursula, who was the daughter of Sir Samuel Marow
Marow Baronets
The Baronetcy of Marow of Berkswell was created in the Baronetage of England on 16 July 1679 for Samuel Marow of Berkswell Hall, Warwickshire.-Marow of Berkswell :* Sir Samuel Marow, 1st Baronet Extinct on his death...
, Bt
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, of Berkswell
Berkswell
Berkswell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, county of West Midlands, England.- Geography:It is in the east of the borough, borders Coventry and is about west of Coventry city centre.- History and places of interest :...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. His paternal grandfather was Sir Nicholas Wilmot (1611–1682), a serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
knighted in 1674. His elder brother Robert
Sir Robert Wilmot, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Wilmot, 1st Baronet was an English servant of the Crown, Secretary to successive Viceroys of Ireland from 1740 to 1772, and after 1758 Secretary to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household...
(c.1708–1772) was another lawyer who went into the service of the crown, was knighted in 1739 and created a baronet (Wilmot of Osmaston
Wilmot Baronets
There have been three Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Wilmot, one in the Baronetage of Ireland and two in the Baronetage of Great Britain. One creation is extant as of 2008....
) in 1772.
John Eardley Wilmot was educated at Derby School
Derby School
Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989...
, then with Dr John Hunter at Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, where his contemporaries included Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
and David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
. He then went to Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and 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 :...
, where he matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
in 1727, before studying law in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
at 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...
, as his father and older brother had done before him, and was called to the bar in 1732.
On 3 April 1743, Wilmot married Sarah Rivett (1721–1772), a daughter of Thomas Rivett of Derby, with whom he had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, another Robert, died in Bengal, while his younger son, John Eardley Wilmot, became a barrister and wrote his father's memoirs. One of his daughters, Maria, married the Jewish City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
banker Sampson Gideon, who changed his surname to Eardley and in 1789 became Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley , known as Sampson Gideon until 1789, was the son of another Sampson Gideon , a Jewish banker in the City of London who advised the British government in the 1740s and 1750s.He served as Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire from 1770 to 1780, Midhurst from 1780...
.
John Eardley Wilmot's grandson Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet, (1783–1847), served as a member of 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,...
and as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (or Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
), was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1821 and published An Abridgment of Blackstone's Commentaries (1822). (This example of a judge having an eminent grandson "where the son is not eminent" was quoted by Francis Galton
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton /ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈgɔːltn̩/ FRS , cousin of Douglas Strutt Galton, half-cousin of Charles Darwin, was an English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician...
in his study of the hereditary genius in 1869, and he proposed that the odds on such an occurrence were thirty to one against.)
Career
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
from 1733 to 1737, Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke PC was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Chancellor. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1756 and 1757 until 1762....
, the next Lord Chancellor, 1737 to 1756, and Sir Dudley Ryder
Dudley Ryder (judge)
Sir Dudley Ryder was a British politician, judge and diarist.-Career:The son of a draper, Ryder studied at a dissenting academy in Hackney and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and Leiden University in The Netherlands. He went to the Middle Temple in 1713 and was called to the Bar in 1719...
, an Attorney General
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
and Lord Chief Justice
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
. Bishop John Hough
John Hough (bishop)
John Hough was an English bishop. He is best known for the confrontation over his election as President at Magdalen College, Oxford that took place at the end of the reign of James II of England.-Life:...
of Worcester wrote to Wilmot's aunt on 4 May 1737:
He joined the Midland Circuit and was an advocate at the Derby Assizes. Dudley Ryder appointed Wilmot a junior counsel to the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
, and in 1753 he was offered promotion to King's Counsel and to serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
, but declined and returned to Derbyshire. However, in February 1755 he accepted the appointment as a judge of the King's Bench
King's Bench
The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...
and serjeant-at-law, and was knighted. In 1756, he became a Commissioner of the Great Seal
Great Seal of the Realm
The Great Seal of the Realm or Great Seal of the United Kingdom is a seal that is used to symbolise the Sovereign's approval of important state documents...
and was proposed as Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, but said he didn't want it.
William Blackstone
William Blackstone
Sir William Blackstone KC SL was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke...
, author of the famous Commentaries on the Laws of England
Commentaries on the Laws of England
The Commentaries on the Laws of England are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765–1769...
(four volumes, 1765–1769) was one of Wilmot's close friends. Blackstone wrote to him on 22 February 1766, after the publication of the first volume of the Commentaries: "Sir, Lord Mansfield did me the honour to inform me, that both you and himself had been so obliging as to mark out a few of the many errors, which I am sensible are to be met with in the Book which I lately published. Nothing can flatter me so much as that you have thought it worth the pains of such a revisal."
In August 1766, Wilmot became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
, and in September 1766 joined the Privy Council. In 1770, he again refused appointment as Lord Chancellor, and in January 1771 resigned as Chief Justice.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Wilmot was appointed as a royal commissioner
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
to investigate claims by American Loyalists
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
for compensation for the losses they had suffered as a result of the war.
He died in London in 1792 and was buried at Berkswell, Warwickshire, a country estate which had been inherited by his wife.
Portraits
Portraits of Wilmot include one by Joshua ReynoldsJoshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, later engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London.He was born in Florence...
, another by Dance now at the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, with a copy in the Royal Courts of Justice
Royal Courts of Justice
The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...
, and a third attributed to Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright , styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution"....
, now in 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...
.
A handsome posthumous portrait was painted in 1812 by Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, showing in the background West’s allegorical painting Reception of the American Loyalists in England.