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.
Facts
RoleLawyer, Whig politician, abolitionist and legal reformer 1 Nationality / Jurisdiction Classification
Field of Law Role
Role (category) Role (category) In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Samuel Romilly (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction, gender
Born in London of French Huguenot descent, he was largely self-educated and escaped poverty through a fortuitous inheritance that allowed travel.
Introduction, nationality
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.
Introduction, role
Samuel Romilly was a British lawyer, Whig politician, abolitionist and legal reformer.
Full article, field of law
After an early interest in radical politics, he built a career in chancery cases and then turned to reform of British criminal law and abolition of the slave trade.
View the Source 2. Wikidata: Samuel Romilly
Wikidata Q3471216, P569 date of birth claim (year)
P569 (date of birth): 1757
Wikidata Q3471216, P569 date of birth claim (full date)
P569 (date of birth): 1757-03-01
Wikidata Q3471216, P570 date of death claim (year)
P570 (date of death): 1818
Wikidata Q3471216, P570 date of death claim (full date)
P570 (date of death): 1818-11-02
Wikidata Q3471216, P19 place of birth claim
P19 (place of birth): London
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.