William Scroggs
Encyclopedia
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,...
, was the son of an Oxford landowner; an account of him being the son of a butcher of sufficient means to give his son a university education is merely a rumour.
Youth and Early Career
Scroggs spent his youth in StiffordStifford
Stifford is a place in the unitary authority of Thurrock, Essex. The traditional parish of Stifford is divided by the A13 trunk road into two communities known respectively as North and South Stifford.-Origin of name:...
. He went to Oriel College, and later to Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
, where he graduated in 1640, having acquired a fair knowledge of the classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
. There is some evidence that he fought on the royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
side during the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. In 1653 he was called to the bar, and soon gained a good practice in the courts. He was appointed a judge of the common pleas in 1676, and two years later was promoted to be Lord Chief Justice.
Lord Chief Justice and The Popish Plot
As Lord Chief Justice Scroggs presided at the trial of the persons denounced by Titus OatesTitus Oates
Titus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...
for complicity in the "Popish Plot
Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...
," and he treated these prisoners with characteristic violence and brutality, overwhelming them with sarcasm and abuse while on their trial, and taunting them when sentencing them to death. He may at first have been a sincere believer in the existence of the plot along with much of the general populice and parliament, regardless he did nothing to test the credibility of witnesses as Oates, Bedloe
William Bedloe
William Bedloe was an English fraudster and informer, born at Chepstow.He appears to have been well educated; he was certainly clever, and after moving to London in 1670 he became acquainted with some Jesuits and was occasionally employed by them...
and Dangerfield
Thomas Dangerfield
Thomas Dangerfield was an English conspirator.Dangerfield was born about 1650 at Waltham Abbey, Essex, the son of a farmer...
.
At the trial in February 1679 of the prisoners accused of the murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey he gave a characteristic exhibition of his methods, indulging in a tirade against the Roman Catholic religion, and loudly proclaiming his belief in the guilt of the accused. It was only when, in July of the same year, Oates's accusation against the Queen's physician, Sir George Wakeman
George Wakeman
Sir George Wakeman was an English royal physician to Catherine of Braganza, Consort of Charles II of England. In 1678, he was perjured by Titus Oates, who had gained backing of Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of Danby, highly placed in government...
, appeared likely to involve the Queen herself in the ramifications of the plot, that Scroggs began to think matters were going too far; he was probably also influenced by the discovery that the court regarded the plot with discredit and disfavour, and that the country party led by Shaftesbury had less influence than he had supposed with the King. The Chief Justice on this occasion threw doubt on the trustworthiness of Bedloe and Oates as witnesses, and warned the jury to be careful in accepting their evidence.
This inflamed public opinion against Scroggs, for the popular belief in the plot was still strong. Scroggs continued in his poor treatment of Catholic priests who came before him for trial, as he showed when he sentenced Andrew Bromwich
Andrew Bromwich
Andrew Bromwich was an English Roman Catholic priest, a survivor of the Popish Plot, and the founder of the Oscott Mission, which developed into St. Mary's College, Oscott.- Early career :...
to death at Stafford in the summer of 1679, however his proposing the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
's health at the Lord Mayor's dinner a few months later in the presence of Shaftesbury indicated his determination not to support the Exclusionists against the known wishes of the king .At the opening of the Michaelmas Term he delivered a speech on the need for judicial independence: " the people ought to be pleased with public justice and not justice seek to please the people....neither for my part do I think we live in so corrupted an age that no man can with safety be just and follow his own conscience."
Acting in the assurance of popular sympathy, Oates and Bedloe now arraigned the Chief Justice before the Privy Council for having discredited their evidence and misdirected the jury in the Wakeman case, accusing him at the same time of several other misdemeanours on the bench, including a habit of excessive drinking and bad language. In January 1680 the case was argued before the Council and Scroggs was acquitted. At the trials of Elizabeth Cellier
Elizabeth Cellier
Elizabeth Cellier , flourished 1668–1688, London, England was a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 for her alleged part in the "Meal-Tub Plot" against the future James II but was acquitted...
and of Lord Castlemaine
Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine
Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine PC was an English courtier, diplomat, and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He was also a noted Catholic writer...
in June of the same year, both of whom were acquitted, he discredited Dangerfield's evidence, and on the former occasion committed the witness to prison. In the same month he discharged the grand jury of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
before the end of term in order to save the Duke of York from indictment as a popish recusant, a proceeding which the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
declared to be illegal, and which was made an article in the impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
of Scroggs in January 1681. The dissolution of Parliament put an end to the impeachment, but in April Scroggs was removed from the bench with a pension; he died in London on the 25th of October 1683.
Personality and Lifestyle
Scroggs was a judge at a time when the courts were considered corrupt and unfair and his temper and treatment of defendants were an example of the endemic problems within the judiciary. He served on the bench during the same period as the infamous Judge JeffreysGeorge Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem, PC , also known as "The Hanging Judge", was an English judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor .- Early years and education :Jeffreys was born at the family estate of Acton Hall, near Wrexham,...
who has also been criticised for similar poor treatment of defendants and witnesses. He was the subject of many contemporary satires; he was reputed to live a debauched lifestyle and his manners during trials were considered 'coarse' and 'violent' . .Roger North
Roger North
Roger North may refer to:*Roger North, 2nd Baron North , English peer*Roger North , captain who sailed with Walter Raleigh in 1617 and only governor of the Oyapoc*Roger North , English lawyer and biographer...
who knew him well described him as a man of great wit and fluency, but "scandalous, violent, intemperate and extreme."
Legal Writings
Scroggs was the author of a work on the Practice of Courts-LeetCourt leet
The court leet was a historical court baron of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts.-History:...
and Courts-Baron
Court baron
A Court baron is an English or Scottish manorial court dating from the Middle Ages.It was laid down by Sir Edward Coke that a manor had two courts, "the first by the common law, and is called a court baron," the freeholders being its suitors; the other a customary court for the copyholders...
(London, 1701), and he edited reports of the state trials over which he presided.
Authorities
- William CobbettWilliam CobbettWilliam Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
, Complete Collection of State Trials (vols. i.-x. of State Trials, 33 vols, London, 1809) - Roger NorthRoger North (17th century)Roger North, KC , English lawyer, biographer, and amateur musician, was the sixth son of t he fourth Baron North....
, Life of Lord Guilford, etc., edited by A Jessopp (3 vols, London, 1890), and Examen (London, 1740) - Narcissus LuttrellNarcissus LuttrellNarcissus Luttrell was an English historian, diarist, and bibliographer, and briefly Member of Parliament for two different Cornish towns...
, A Brief Relation of State Affairs, 1678-1714 (6 vols, Oxford, 1857) - Anthony à Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, edited by P Bliss (4 vols, London, 1813–1820)
- Correspondence of the Family of Hatton, edited by Edward Maunde ThompsonEdward Maunde ThompsonSir Edward Maunde Thompson, GCB was a British palaeographer and Principal Librarian and first Director of the British Museum. He is also noted for his study of William Shakespeare's handwriting in the manuscript of the play Sir Thomas More.-Biography:Thompson's father was Edward Thompson, Custos...
(2 vols, Camden SocietyCamden SocietyThe Camden Society, named after the English antiquary and historian William Camden, was founded in 1838 in London to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books....
22, 23, London, 1878) - Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices of England (3 vols, London, 1849–1857)
- Edward FossEdward FossEdward Foss was an English lawyer and biographer.He was born in London. He became a solicitor, and on his retirement from practice in 1840, devoted himself to the study of legal antiquities. His Judges of England was regarded as a standard work, characterized by accuracy and extensive research...
, The Judges of England (9 vols, London, 1848–1864) - Sir JF StephenJames Fitzjames StephenSir James Fitzjames Stephen, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer, judge and writer. He was created 1st Baronet Stephen by Queen Victoria.-Early life:...
, History of the Criminal Law of England (3 vols, London, 1883) - Harry Brodribb IrvingHarry Brodribb IrvingHarry Brodribb Irving , was a British stage actor and actor-manager; the eldest son of Sir Henry Irving and his wife Florence , and father of designer Laurence Irving and actress Elizabeth Irving....
, Life of Judge Jeffreys (London, 1898).