Blue plaque in Bedford Square, London

John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (4 June 1751 – 13 January 1838), Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. His grandfather, William Scott of Sandgate, a suburb of Newcastle, was clerk to a fitter, a sort of water-carrier and broker of coals. His father, whose name also was William, began life as an apprentice to a fitter, in which service he obtained the freedom of Newcastle, becoming a member of the gild of Hoastmen (coal-fitters); later in life he became a principal in the business, and attained a respectable position as a merchant in Newcastle, accumulating property worth nearly £20,000. There are many people who have been called John Scott: // John Scott (Australian politician), Member of the Australian House of Representatives John Scott (Canadian politician) (1822–1857), First mayor of Bytown, later Ottawa John Scott (Missouri), Missouris first U.S. Representative (1821-1827) John Scott (Pennsylvania) (1824–1896), lawyer... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 693 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,217 × 1,053 pixels, file size: 191 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Blue plaque to Lord Eldon on his house in Bedford Square, London, England. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 693 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,217 × 1,053 pixels, file size: 191 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Blue plaque to Lord Eldon on his house in Bedford Square, London, England. ... A blue plaque showing information about The Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey in Torquay. ... Bedford Square is a square in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and in former times Chancellor of England, is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Sandgate can be: Sandgate, Kent Sandgate Castle Sandgate, Queensland Sandgate, New South Wales, a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales Sandgate, Vermont This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Education

John Scott was educated at Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Grammar School. He was not remarkable at school for application to his studies, though his wonderful memory enabled him to make good progress in them; he frequently played truant and was whipped for it, robbed orchards, and indulged in other questionable schoolboy freaks; nor did he always come out of his scrapes with honor and a character for truthfulness. When he had finished his education. at the grammar school, his father thought of apprenticing him to his own business, to which an elder brother Henry had already devoted himself; and it was only through the interference of his elder brother William (afterwards Lord Stowell), who had already obtained a fellowship at University College, Oxford, that it was ultimately resolved that he should continue the prosecution of his studies. Accordingly, in 1766, John Scott entered University College with the view of taking holy orders and obtaining a college living. In the year following he obtained a fellowship, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1770, and in 1771 won the prize for the English essay, the only university prize open in his time for general competition. The gates of the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Grammar School, known locally as The RGS, is a long-established co-educational, independent school. ... William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell (17 October 1745 – 28 January 1836) was an English judge and jurist // Scott was born at Heworth, a village about four miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of a coalfitter (or tradesman engaged in the transport of coal). ... College name University College Collegium Magnae Aulae Universitatis Named after Established 1249 Sister College Trinity Hall Master Lord Butler of Brockwell JCR President Peter Surr Undergraduates 420 MCR President Monte MacDiarmid Graduates 144 Homepage Boatclub Crest of University College, Oxford University College (in full, the The Master and Fellows of... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A B.A. issued from the University of Tennessee. ... For the village in Queensland, see 1770, Queensland. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Elopement with Bessie Surtees

His wife was the eldest daughter of Aubone Surtees, a Newcastle banker. The Surtees family objected to the match, and attempted to prevent it; but a strong attachment had sprung up between them. On 18 November 1772 Scott, with the aid of a ladder and an old friend, carried off the lady from her father's house in the Sandhill, across the border to Blackshields, in Scotland, where they were married. The father of the bridegroom objected not to his son's choice, but to the time he chose to marry; it was a blight on his sons prospects, depriving him of his fellowship and his chance of church preferment. But while the bride's family refused to hold intercourse with the pair, Mr Scott, like a prudent man and an affectionate father, set himself to make the best of a bad matter, and received them kindly, settling on his son £2000. John returned with his wife to Oxford, and continued to hold his fellowship for what is called the year of grace given after marriage, and added to his income by acting as a private tutor. After a time Mr Surtees was reconciled with his daughter, and made a liberal settlement on her. is the 322nd day of the year (323rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1772 (MDCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the country. ...

John Scott's year of grace closed without any college living falling vacant; and with his fellowship he gave up the church and turned to the study of law. He became a student at the Middle Temple in January 1773. In 1776 he was called to the bar, intending at first to establish himself as an advocate in his native town, a scheme which his early success led him to abandon, and he soon settled to the practice of his profession in London, and on the northern circuit. In the autumn of the year in which he was called to the bar his father died, leaving him a legacy of £1000 over and above the £2000 previously settled on him. Part of Middle Temple c. ... Year 1773 (MDCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see 1776 (disambiguation). ...

Professional life

In his second year at the bar his prospects began to brighten. His brother William, who by this time held the Camden professorship of ancient history, and enjoyed an extensive acquaintance with men of eminence in London, was in a position materially to advance his interests. Among his friends was the notorious Andrew Bowes of Gibside, to the patronage of whose house the rise of the Scott family was largely owing. Bowes having contested Newcastle and lost it, presented an election petition against the return of his opponent. Young Scott was retained as junior counsel in the case, and though he lost the petition he did not fail to improve the opportunity which it afforded for displaying his talents. This engagement, in the commencement of his second year at the bar, and the dropping in of occasional fees, must have raised his hopes; and he now abandoned the scheme of becoming a provincial barrister. A year or two of dull drudgery and few fees followed, and he began to be much depressed. But in 1780 we find his prospects suddenly improved, by his appearance in the case of Ackroyd v. Smithson, which became a leading case settling a rule of law; and young Scott, having lost his point in the inferior court, insisted on arguing it, on appeal, against the opinion of his clients, and carried it before Lord Thurlow, whose favorable consideration he won by his able argument. The same year Bowes again retained him in an election petition; and in the year following Scott greatly increased his reputation by his appearance as leading counsel in the Clitheroe election petition. From this time his success was certain. In 1782, he obtained a silk gown, and was so far cured of his early modesty that he declined accepting the king's counselship if precedence over him were given to his junior, Thomas Erskine, though the latter was the son of a peer and a most accomplished orator. He was now on the high way to fortune. His health, which had hitherto been but indifferent, strengthened with the demands made upon it; his talents, his power of endurance, and his ambition all expanded together. He enjoyed a considerable practice in the northern part of his circuit, before parliamentary committees and at the chancery bar. By 1787, his practice at the equity bar had so far increased that he was obliged to give up the eastern half of his circuit (which embraced six counties) and attend it only at Lancaster. 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (9 December 1731–12 September 1806), Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, was born at Bracon Ash, in the county of Norfolk. ... 1782 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine (10 January 1750 - 17 November 1823), Lord Chancellor of England, was the third and youngest son of Henry David Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, and was born in Edinburgh. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1782 he entered parliament for Lord Weymouth's close borough of Weobley, which Lord Thurlow obtained for him without solicitation. In parliament he gave a general and independent support to Pitt. His first parliamentary speeches were directed against Fox's India Bill. They were unsuccessful. In one he aimed at being brilliant; and becoming merely labored and pedantic, he was covered with ridicule by Sheridan, from whom he received a lesson which he did not fail to turn to account. In 1788 he was appointed Solicitor General, and was knighted, and at the close of this year he attracted attention by his speeches in support of Pitt's resolutions on the state of the king (George III, who then labored under a mental malady) and the delegation of his authority. It is said that he drew the Regency Bill, which was introduced in 1789. In 1793 Sir John Scott was promoted to the office of Attorney-General, in which it fell to him to conduct the memorable prosecutions for high treason against British sympathizers with French republicanism, amongst others, against the celebrated Horne Tooke. These prosecutions, in most cases, were no doubt instigated by Sir John Scott, and were the most important proceedings in which he was ever professionally engaged. He has left on record, in his Anecdote Book, a defence of his conduct in regard to them. Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, 3rd Viscount Weymouth (1734-1796), English politician, was the elder son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth (1710—1751), and the great-grandnephew of Thomas Thynne (c. ... William Pitt the Younger (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British politician of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. ... Statue of Charles James Fox in Bloomsbury Square, erected 1816. ... Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Sheridan (October 30, 1751 – July 7, 1816) was an Irish playwright and Whig statesman. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Her Majestys Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law. ... “George III” redirects here. ... Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1793 (MDCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General or Attorney-General is the main legal adviser to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions. ... John Horne Tooke (June 25, 1736 - March 18, 1812), was an English politician and philologist. ...

In 1799 the office of chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas falling vacant, Sir John Scott's claim to it was not overlooked; and after seventeen years' service in the Lower House, he entered the House of Lords as Baron Eldon. In February 1801 the ministry of Pitt was succeeded by that of Addington, and the chief justice now ascended the woolsack. The chancellorship was given to him professedly on account of his notorious anti-Catholic zeal. From the Treaty of Amiens (1802) till 1804 Lord Eldon appears to have interfered little in politics. In the latter year we find him conducting the negotiations which resulted in the dismissal of Addington and the recall of Pitt to office as prime minister. Lord Eldon was continued in office as chancellor under Pitt; but the new administration was of short duration, for on 23 January 1806 Pitt died, worn out with the anxieties of office, and his ministry was succeeded by a coalition, under Lord Grenville. The death of Fox, who became foreign secretary and leader of the House of Commons, soon, however, broke up the Grenville administration; and in the spring of 1807 Lord Eldon once more, under the Duke of Portland's administration, returned to the woolsack, which, from that time, he continued to occupy for about twenty years, swaying the cabinet. 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Postdlf 06:03, 2 May 2005 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... The Right Honourable Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, PC (30 May 1757–15 February 1844) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804. ... The Treaty of Amiens was signed on March 25, 1802 (Germinal 4, year X in the French Revolutionary Calendar) by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquis Cornwallis as a Definitive Treaty of Peace between France and the United Kingdom. ... --69. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (October 25, 1759 - January 12, 1834), was a British statesman and Prime Minister. ... Year 1807 (MDCCCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, (April 14, 1738 – October 30, 1809) was a British Whig and Tory statesman, Chancellor of Oxford University and Prime Minister. ...

During this time Lord Eldon was revered for his work in consolidating equity into a working body of legal principles. In Gee v. Pritchard^[1] he wrote, The Court of Chancery, London, early 19th century This article is about the concept of equity in the jurisprudence of common law countries. ...

"Nothing would inflict on me greater pain in quitting this place, than the recollection that I had done anything to justify the reproach that the equity of this court varies like the Chancellor's foot."^[2]

It was not till April 1827, when the premiership, vacant through the paralysis of Lord Liverpool, fell to Canning, the chief advocate of Roman Catholic emancipation, that Lord Eldon, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, finally resigned the chancellorship. When, after the two short administrations of Canning and Goderich, it fell to the Duke of Wellington to construct a cabinet, Lord Eldon expected to be included, if not as chancellor, at least in some important office, but he was overlooked, at which he was much chagrined. Notwithstanding his frequent protests that he did not covet power, but longed for retirement, we find him again, so late as 1835, within three years of his death, in hopes of office under Peel. He spoke in parliament for the last time in July 1834. Year 1827 (MDCCCXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (June 7, 1770 - December 4, 1828) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. ... George Canning (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and, briefly, Prime Minister. ... The Right Honourable Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon PC (November 1, 1782 – January 28, 1859), Frederick John Robinson until 1827, The Viscount Goderich 1827–1833, and The Earl of Ripon 1833 onwards, was a British statesman and Prime Minister (when he was known as Lord Goderich). ... Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In 1821 Lord Eldon had been created Viscount Encombe and Earl of Eldon by George IV, whom he managed to conciliate, partly, no doubt, by espousing his cause against his wife, whose advocate he had formerly been, and partly through his reputation for zeal against the Roman Catholics. In the same year his brother William, who from 1798 had filled the office of judge of the High Court of Admiralty, was raised to the peerage under the title of Lord Stowell. Year 1821 (MDCCCXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... George IV (George Augustus Frederick) (12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death. ... Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (later Queen Caroline; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was the queen consort of George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 to her death. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences. ...

Lord Eldon was no legislator — his one aim in politics was to keep in office, and maintain things as he found them; and almost the only laws he helped to pass were laws for popular coercion. For nearly forty years he fought against every improvement in law or in the constitution, calling God to witness, on the smallest proposal of reform, that he foresaw from it the downfall of his country. Without any political principles, properly so called, and without interest in or knowledge of foreign affairs, he maintained himself and his party in power for an unprecedented period by his great tact, and in virtue of his two great political properties of zeal against every species of reform, and zeal against the Roman Catholics. When he supported a Bill to abolish the right of convicted criminals to apply for trial by combat — a right which was thought obsolete but which an alleged murderer recently applied for — it was remarked that this was the only reform he had ever supported in over twenty years on the woolsack. To pass from his political to his judicial character is to shift to ground on which his greatness is universally acknowledged. His judgments, which have received as much praise for their accuracy as abuse for their clumsiness and uncouthness, fill a small library. But though intimately acquainted with every nook and cranny of the English law, he never carried his studies into foreign fields, from which to enrich our legal literature; and it must be added that against the excellence of his judgments, in too many cases, must be set off the hardships, worse than injustice, that arose from his protracted delays in pronouncing them. A consummate judge and the narrowest of politicians, he was doubt on the bench, and promptness itself in the political arena. For literature, as for art, he had no feeling. What intervals of leisure he enjoyed from the cares of office he filled up with newspapers and the gossip of old cronies. Nor were his intimate associates men of refinement and taste; they were rather good fellows who quietly enjoyed a good bottle and a joke; he uniformly avoided encounters of wit with his equals. He is said to have been parsimonious, and certainly he was quicker to receive than to reciprocate hospitalities; but his mean establishment and mode of life are explained by the retired habits of his wife, and her dislike of company. His manners were very winning and courtly, and in the circle of his immediate relatives he is said to have always been lovable and beloved. 1540s depiction of a 1409 judicial combat in Augsburg (Paulus Hector Mair, Munich cod. ... The woolsack in the former Irish House of Lords. ...

Personal life and character

Lord Eldon's wife, his dear "Bessy," his love for whom is a beautiful feature in his life, died before him, on 28 June 1831. By nature she was of simple character, and by habits acquired during the early portion of her husband's career almost a recluse. Two of their sons reached maturity: John, who died in 1805, and William Henry John, who died unmarried in 1832. Lord Eldon himself survived almost all his immediate relations. His brother William died in 1836. He himself died in London on 13 January 1838, leaving behind him two daughters, Lady Frances Bankes and Lady Elizabeth Repton, and a grandson John (1805-1854), who succeeded him as second earl, the title subsequently passing to the latter's son John (b. 1846). is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1832 (MDCCCXXXII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

"In his person," says Lord Campbell, "Lord Eldon was about the middle size, his figure light and athletic, his features regular and handsome, his eye bright and full, his smile remarkably benevolent, and his whole appearance prepossessing. The advance of years rather increased than detracted from these personal advantages. As he sat on the judgment-seat, 'the deep thought betrayed in his furrowed brow, the large eyebrows, overhanging eyes that seemed to regard more what was taking place within than around him, his calmness, that would have assumed a character of sternness but for its perfect placidity, his dignity, repose and venerable age, tended at once to win confidence and to inspire respect' (Townsend). He had a voice both sweet and deep-toned, and its effect was not injured by his Northumbrian burr, which, though strong, was entirely free from harshness and vulgarity."

There is a blue plaque on his house in Bedford Square, London. A blue plaque showing information about The Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey in Torquay. ... Bedford Square is a square in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. ...

Footnotes

Further reading

• Horace Twiss: Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon - 3 volumes 1844 London: John Murray Publishers
• Rose A. Melikan: John Scott, Lord Eldon, 1751-1838 The Duty of Loyalty - 1999 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Anthony L.J. Lincoln & Robert Lindley McEwen (editors): Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book - 1960 London: Stevens & Sons Ltd.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.