Wilfrid Prest
Encyclopedia
Wilfrid Prest is a historian
, specialising in legal history
, who is currently professor emeritus at the University of Adelaide
. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
, the Australian Academy of the Humanities
and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=259, as well as being an Honorary Fellow of Queen's College
, University of Melbourne
.
He has published three books, as well as many journal articles, and has also written 26 entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
and then studied for his PhD
at the University of Oxford
. He became a lecturer at the University of Adelaide
in 1966. He subsequently spent two years (1969–71) as assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University
, in Baltimore
, before returning to the University of Adelaide
, where he remained a member of the history department until July 2002. Between 1978 and 1985, he was also chairman of the Board of the Art Gallery of South Australia
.
In 2002 he resigned his personal chair in History in order to take up an Australian Research Council Australian Professorial Fellowship; he moved to the Law School in 2003, and subsequently held his fellowship as a joint appointment between Law and History, while preparing a biography of William Blackstone
, now forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, specialising in legal history
Legal history
Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and is set in the wider context of social history...
, who is currently professor emeritus at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
, the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Australian Academy of the Humanities
The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia...
and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia is an autonomous, non-governmental organisation, devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It was established in 1971...
http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=259, as well as being an Honorary Fellow of Queen's College
Queen's College (University of Melbourne)
Queen's College is a residential College affiliated with the University of Melbourne providing accommodation to 220 students who are attending the University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, RMIT University and Monash University's Victorian College of Pharmacy.In addition to the...
, University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
.
He has published three books, as well as many journal articles, and has also written 26 entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Life
Wilfrid Prest read history at the University of MelbourneUniversity of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and then studied for his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He became a lecturer at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
in 1966. He subsequently spent two years (1969–71) as assistant professor at The Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, before returning to the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
, where he remained a member of the history department until July 2002. Between 1978 and 1985, he was also chairman of the Board of the Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia , located on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace in Adelaide, is the premier visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of over 35,000 works of art, making it, after the National Gallery of Victoria, the largest state...
.
In 2002 he resigned his personal chair in History in order to take up an Australian Research Council Australian Professorial Fellowship; he moved to the Law School in 2003, and subsequently held his fellowship as a joint appointment between Law and History, while preparing a biography of 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...
, now forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
Books
- The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts, 1590-1640 (LondonLondonLondon 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...
: LongmanLongmanLongman was a publishing company founded in London, England in 1724. It is now an imprint of Pearson Education.-Beginnings:The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman , the son of Ezekiel Longman , a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and...
, 1972) - The Rise of the Barristers: A Social History of the English Bar 1590-1640 (OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
: Clarendon Press, 1986) - Albion Ascendant: English History 1660-1815 (OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1998) - (with Sharyn L.Roach Anleu), Litigation: Past and Present (UNSW Press, 2004)
- William BlackstoneWilliam BlackstoneSir 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...
: Law and Letters in the Eighteenth Century (OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2008)
As editor
- The Professions in Early Modern England (London: Croom Helm, 1987)
- Lawyers in Early Modern Europe and America (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1981)
- (with Kerrie Round and Carol Susan Fort), The Wakefield Companion to South Australian History (South Australia: Wakefield PressWakefield PressWakefield Press is an independent book publishing company in Australia, based in the Adelaide suburb of Kent Town, South Australia. They publish an eclectic list diverse in subject, tone and point, with strong suits in true stories, gastronomy, history, literature and gift books.-History:Wakefield...
, 2001) - The Diary of Sir Richard HuttonSir Richard HuttonSir Richard Hutton was a Yorkshire landowner and judge who defied Charles I over ship money.Hutton was the younger brother of Sir William Hutton and son of Anthony Hutton. Born and brought up at Hutton Hall in Penrith, Cumbria, he went to Jesus College, Cambridge to study divinity but aged 20...
, Justice of Common Pleas 1617-1639, with Related Documents (London: Selden Society, 1991) - John Bray: Law, Letters, Life (Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1997)
- The Letters of Sir William Blackstone, 1743-1780 (London: Selden Society, 2006)
Articles in Edited Volumes
- "Why the history of professions is not written", in G. Rubin and David Sugarman (eds.), Law, Economy and Society 1750-1914: Essays in the History of English Law (Oxford: Professional Books Ltd., 1984)
- "The experience of litigation in eighteenth-century England", in D. Lemmings (ed.), The British and their Laws in the Eighteenth Century (SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk 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...
: Boydell and Brewer, 2005), pp. 133–54 - "Legal Autobiography in Early Modern England", in R. Bedford, L. Davies and P. Kelly (eds.), Early Modern Autobiography: Theories, Genres, Practices (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan PressUniversity of Michigan PressThe University of Michigan Press is part of the University of Michigan Library and serves as a primary publishing unit of the University of Michigan, with special responsibility for the creation and promotion of scholarly, educational, and regional books and other materials in digital and print...
, 2006), pp. 280–94
Entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Archer, Sir John (1598–1682), judge
- Ball, Sir Peter (bap. 1598, d. 1680), lawyer and antiquary
- Blackstone, Sir William (1723–1780), legal writer and judge
- Bulstrode, Edward (c.1588–1659), judge
- Cook, John (bap. 1608, d. 1660), judge and regicide
- Crewe [Crew], Sir Randolph (bap. 1559, d. 1646), judge
- Denham, Sir John (1559–1639), judge
- Finch, Sir Henry (c.1558–1625), author and lawyer
- Foster, Sir Thomas (1548–1612), judge
- Greene, John (1578–1653), sergeant-at-law
- Harvey, Sir Francis (c.1568–1632), judge and politician
- Hitcham, Sir Robert (bap. 1573, d. 1636), barrister and politician
- Hoskins, John (1566–1638), poet and judge
- Hutton, Sir RichardSir Richard HuttonSir Richard Hutton was a Yorkshire landowner and judge who defied Charles I over ship money.Hutton was the younger brother of Sir William Hutton and son of Anthony Hutton. Born and brought up at Hutton Hall in Penrith, Cumbria, he went to Jesus College, Cambridge to study divinity but aged 20...
(bap. 1561, d. 1639), judge - Hyde, Sir Nicholas (c.1572–1631), barrister and politician
- Hyde, Sir Robert (1595/6–1665), barrister and politician
- Ley, James, first earl of Marlborough (1550–1629), judge and politician
- Malet, Sir ThomasThomas MaletSir Thomas Malet was a judge, Solicitor general to Queen Henrietta Maria and a politician. His home was in Poyntington, but he inherited lands in Somerset known as St Audries. His wife was Susan Mills....
(c.1582–1665), judge and politician - Moore, Sir Francis (1559–1621), lawyer and politician
- Nicolls, Sir Augustine (1559–1616), judge
- Pagitt, Justinian (1611/12–1668), lawyer and diarist
- Rokeby, Ralph (c.1527–1596), lawyer and administrator
- Walter, Sir John (bap. 1565, d. 1630), judge and politician
- Warburton, Sir Peter (c.1540–1621), judge
- Wilde, Sir William, first baronet (c.1611–1679), judge and politician
- Winch, Sir Humphrey (1554/5–1625), judge
Journal Articles
- 'Legal Education of the Gentry at the Inns of Court, 1560-1640', Past & PresentPast & PresentPast & Present is a British historical academic journal, which was a leading force in the development of social history. It was founded in 1952 by a combination of Marxist and non-Marxist historians. The Marxist historians included members of the Communist Party Historians Group, including E. P...
, 38 (1967): 20-39 - 'Stability and Change in Old and New England: Clayworth and Dedham', Journal of Interdisciplinary HistoryJournal of Interdisciplinary HistoryThe Journal of Interdisciplinary History is a peer-reviewed academic journal published four times a year by the MIT Press. It covers a broad range of historical themes and periods, linking history to other academic fields.-Contents:...
, 6 (1976): 359-374 - 'The Dialectical Origins of Finch's Law', Cambridge Law JournalCambridge Law JournalThe Cambridge Law Journal is a peer-reviewed academic law journal published by Cambridge University Press. It is the principal academic publication of the Faculty of Law of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1921 it is the longest running university law journal in the United Kingdom . Its...
, 36 (1977): 326-352 - 'Judicial Corruption in Early Modern England', Past & Present, 133 (1991): 67-95
- 'Predicting Civil War Allegiances: The Lawyers' Case Considered', Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, 24 (1992): 225-236
- '"One Hawkins, A Female Sollicitor": Women Lawyers in Augustan England', The Huntington Library Quarterly, 57 (1994): 353-358
- 'William Lambarde, Elizabethan Law Reform, and Early Stuart Politics', The Journal of British Studies, 34 (1995): 464-480
- '"To Die in the Term": The Mortality of English Barristers', Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 26 (1995): 233-249
- 'Blackstone as Architect: Constructing the Commentaries', Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities, 15 (2003): 103-133
- 'Antipodean Blackstone: the Commentaries "Down Under"', Flinders University Journal of Law Reform, 6 (2003): 151-167
- 'The Religion of a Common Lawyer? William Blackstone's Anglicanism', Parergon, 23 (2004): 153-68
- 'Reconstructing the Blackstone Archive: Or, Blundering after Blackstone', Archives, 31 (2006): 108-118