Sir Samuel Romilly was a British lawyer, Whig politician and legal reformer who lived from 1757 to 1818, born in London to a family of French Huguenot descent. He served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from 1806 to 1807 and sat in Parliament for several constituencies, including Horsham, Wareham, Arundel and Westminster. Over roughly a dozen years he pushed a series of bills through Parliament to soften the Bloody Code, the harsh system of capital punishment for minor offenses. In 1808 he secured repeal of an Elizabethan statute making theft from the person a capital offense, in 1812 he ended capital punishment for unauthorized begging by soldiers and sailors, and in 1814 he secured abolition of corruption of blood as a penalty, except for treason and murder, and of the sentence of hanging, drawing and quartering. Several of his other reform bills were rejected by the House of Lords, including three defeated in 1809.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.