Stowell, WILLIAM SCOTT, LORD

Stowell, WILLIAM SCOTT, LORD, the eldest brother of Lord Eldon (q.v.), was born at Heworth, Durham, 17th October 1745. He was educated at Newcastle, went to Oxford in 1761, and became a college tutor. In 1779 he took the degree of D.C.L., removed to London, and was called to the bar in 1780. Dr Johnson introduced him to the Literary Club. As a barrister at Doctors' Commons he obtained a large practice, and his promotion was rapid. In 1788 he was appointed judge in the Consistory Court, knighted, and nominated 'a privy-councillor. In 1798 he became judge of the Court of Admiralty. Both as an ecclesiastical and admiralty judge he won high distinction. He wrote no systematic treatise or text-book, but his judgments were admirably reported, and supply the best evidence of his extensive legal learning, his sagacity, and his great literary ability. He was long the highest English authority on the law of nations. He represented Oxford in the House of Commons for twenty years, but he took no part in the business of parliament, although, like his brother, he was a zealous supporter of the Conservative party and the established church. At the coronation of George IV. he was raised to the peerage under the title of Baron Stowell of Stowell Park. In 1828 he retired from the bench, and on the 28th January 1836 he died. See the lives of the two brothers by Surtees cited at ELDON.