John Bosanquet

The Right Honourable Sir John B. Bosanquet KSPC
Third Justice of the Common Pleas
In office 1830–1842
Preceded by	James Burrough
Personal details
Born	(1773-05-02)2 May 1773
Died	25 September 1847(1847-09-25)(aged 74)

Sir John Bernard BosanquetKSPC(2 May 1773 – 25 September 1847) was a British judge.

Life

He was born toSamuel Bosanquet,the governor of theBank of England,and his wife Eleanor, and was educated atEton Collegebefore being accepted intoChrist Church, Oxford.He gained his BA on 9 June 1795 and his MA on 20 March 1800. He became a member ofLincoln's Innon 22 January 1794 and was called to the bar on 9 May 1800, joining the home circuit.

He also attended theEssex sessions,of which his father was chairman. Before his call he had, withChristopher Puller,started theReports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of Common Pleas and Exchequer Chamber, and in the House of Lords.Of these reports there are two series, the first in three volumes from 1790 to 1804, and the second in two volumes from 1804 to 1807.

Owing to family influence his career at the bar was soon a successful one. He became general counsel to theEast India Companyin 1814, and the Bank of England in 1819.

He was made aSerjeant-at-Lawon 22 November 1814, and from that time came prominently before the public in the numerous bank prosecutions which he conducted with great discretion for thirteen years. He turned down the position of Chief Justice of Bengal in 1824 and was made aKing's Serjeantin 1827.

On 16 May 1828 he was nominated one of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the practice of the common law courts. Over this commission he presided for three years. After the retirement ofJames Burroughhe became Third Justice of theCourt of Common Pleason 1 February 1830, and was knighted the next day.

He became a member of the Privy Council on 4 September 1833, and sat on theJudicial Committeeregularly until 1840. Upon the resignation ofJohn Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst,Bosanquet in conjunction withCharles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham,the master of the rolls, and SirLancelot Shadwell,the vice-chancellor, was appointed a lord commissioner of the great seal. This commission lasted from 23 April 1835 to 16 Jan. 1836, when Pepys was made lord chancellor.

He retired from the Common Pleas in 1842 due to ill-health, and died on 25 September 1847 at Firs,Hampstead Heath.He was buried at Llantillio-Crossenny, Monmouthshire.

References

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Barker, George Fisher Russell (1886). "Bosanquet, John Bernard".InStephen, Leslie(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Sources

• Barker, G. F. R. (2004)."Oxford DNB article:Bosanquet, Sir John Bernard".In Mooney, Hugh (ed.).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2929.Retrieved15 January2009.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)