William Garrow

The Right Honourable Sir William Garrow KCFRS
William Garrow in 1810, aged 50
Solicitor-General for England
In office June 1812 – May 1813
Preceded by	Sir Thomas Plumer
Succeeded by	Sir Robert Dallas
Attorney-General for England
In office May 1813 – 6 May 1817
Preceded by	Sir Thomas Plumer
Succeeded by	Sir Samuel Shepherd
Baron of the Exchequer
In office 6 May 1817 – 22 February 1832
Preceded by	Richard Richards
Succeeded by	John Gurney
Personal details
Born	13 April 1760 Hadley,Middlesex,England
Died	24 September 1840(1840-09-24)(aged 80) Ramsgate,Kent,England
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Sarah Dore
Profession	Barrister, politician, Judge

Sir William GarrowPCKCFRS(13 April 1760 – 24 September 1840) was an Englishbarrister,politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in theadversarial court systemused in mostcommon lawnations today. He introduced the phrase "presumed innocent until proven guilty",insisting that defendants' accusers and their evidence be thoroughly tested in court. Born to a priest and his wife inMonken Hadley,then in Middlesex, Garrow was educated at his father's school in the village before being apprenticed to Thomas Southouse, an attorney inCheapside,which preceded apupillagewith Mr. Crompton, aspecial pleader.A dedicated student of the law, Garrow frequently observed cases at theOld Bailey;as a result Crompton recommended that he become a solicitor or barrister. Garrow joinedLincoln's Innin November 1778, and wascalled to the Baron 27 November 1783. He quickly established himself as acriminaldefence counsel, and in February 1793 was made aKing's CounselbyHM Governmentto prosecute cases involving treason and felonies.

He was elected to Parliament in 1805 forGatton,arotten borough,and becameSolicitor General for Englandin 1812 andAttorney General for Englanda year later. Although not happy in Parliament, having been returned only for political purposes, Garrow acted as one of the principalWhigspokesmen trying to stop criminal law reform as campaigned for bySamuel Romillyand also attempted to pass legislation to condemn animal cruelty. In 1817, he was made aBaron of the Exchequerand aSerjeant-at-Law,forcing his resignation from Parliament, and he spent the next 15 years as a judge. He was not particularly successful in the commercial cases the Exchequer specialised in, but when onAssize,used his criminal law knowledge from his years at the Bar to great effect. On his resignation in 1832 he was made aPrivy Councillor,a sign of the respect HM Government had for him. He died on 24 September 1840.

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries his work was forgotten by academics, and interest arose only in 1991, with an article by John Beattie titled "Garrow for the Defence" inHistory Today.Garrow is best known for his criminal defence work, which, through the example he set with his aggressive defence of clients, helped establish the modern adversarial system in use in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other former British colonies. Garrow is also known for his impact on the rules of evidence, leading to thebest evidence rule.His work was cited as recently as 1982 in theSupreme Court of Canadaand 2006 in theIrish Court of Criminal Appeal.In 2009,BBC OnebroadcastGarrow's Law,a four-part fictionalised drama of Garrow's beginnings at theOld Bailey;a second series aired in late 2010. BBC One began broadcasting the third series in November 2011.

Early life and education

Lincoln's Inn,where Garrow wascalled to the Baron 27 November 1783

Garrow's family originally came fromMoray,Scotland,where they were descended from the Garriochs of Kinstair, a Scottish royal line.Garrow's father David was born at a farm called Knockside, Aberlour (Speyside) approximately 50 miles northwest ofAberdeen.David graduated fromAberdeen Universitywith aMaster of Artsdegree on 1 April 1736, and became a priest of theChurch of England,creating a school inMonken Hadley,in what's now theGreater Londonarea. His younger brother William became a successful doctor, leaving most of his estate (£30,000) to Garrow. On 5 June 1748 David married Sarah Lowndes, with whom he had eleven children; William, Edward, Eleanora, Jane, John, Rose, William, Joseph, William, David and Anne. The first two Williams died as infants; the third, born on 13 April 1760, survived.

William Garrow was educated at his father's school in Monken Hadley, The Priory,which emphasised preparing students for commercial careers such as in theEast India Company.As such, it taught social graces, as well as English, Greek, Latin, French, geography, mathematics and dancing. Studying there Garrow "knew the English language well; had a moderate acquaintance with the Latin and, as an accomplishment, added a considerable proficiency in French".Garrow attended this school until he was 15, at which point he wasarticledto Thomas Southouse born Faversham, Kent?,an attorney inCheapside,London. Garrow showed potential, being noted as "attentive and diligent in the performance of the technical and practical duties of the office",and Southouse recommended that he become a solicitor orbarrister;as a result, when he was 17, he became a pupil of a Mr. Crompton, aspecial pleader.As a pupil Garrow studied hard, fastidiously reading Sampson Euer'sDoctrina Placitandi,a manual on the Law of Pleading written inlegal French.At the same time he viewed cases at theOld Bailey,forming a friendship with the clerk of arraignment there, William Shelton.

In the 18th century, speakers perfected the art of oratory through debating societies, one of the most noted of which met at Coachmaker's Hall, London. Although initially shy (during his first debate, the attendees had to force him from his seat and hold him up while he spoke), he swiftly developed a reputation as a speaker, and was referred to in the press as "Counsellor Garrow, the famous orator of Coachmaker's Hall".In November 1778, Garrow became a member ofLincoln's Inn,one of the fourInns of Court,and on 27 November 1783 at the age of 23 he wascalled to the Bar;he later became aBencherof Lincoln's Inn in 1793.

Career as a barrister

Defence

A trial at theOld Bailey,where Garrow began his career as a barrister

Garrow started as a criminal defence barrister at theOld Bailey,in a time where many defendants became increasingly reliant on barristers to prevent their conviction.His first case was actually as a prosecutor; on 14 January 1784, barely two months after he wascalled to the Bar,he prosecuted John Henry Aikles for obtaining abill of exchangeunder false pretences.It was alleged that Aikles had promised to pay Samuel Edwards £100 and a small commission for a £100 bill of exchange, and when he took the bill, failed to hand over the money. Despite Aikles's counsel claiming, according toEdward Foss,that "this was no felony", and being represented by two of the most prestigious criminal barristers of the day, Garrow convinced both the judge and the jury that Aikles was guilty.Garrow later defended Aikles in September 1785, securing his release due to ill-health.

During his early years as a practisingbarrister,Garrow was particularly noted for his aggressive and confrontational style of cross-examination. When James Wingrove was charged with theft and violence in the course of a highway robbery in 1784, Garrow's cross-examination of William Grove (who acted as a witness and the person charging Wingrove) got him to admit that he was perjuring himself in an attempt to get a reward, and that Wingrove had not robbed the two injured parties.Garrow showed a dislike of mostthief-takers,of which Grove was one, although he did not treat theBow Street Runnersand other professionals with contempt. His dislike of such men was highlighted in his defence of three men in 1788 for theft; they were charged with assaulting John Troughton, putting him in fear of his life, and stealing his hat. The issue was whether the assault put him in fear of his life, or whether he was exaggerating to claim a reward, which could not be claimed for simple theft.Garrow established that Troughton was uncertain about how he lost his hat, despite his attempts to claim that the defendants knocked it off him, and after four witnesses gave character evidence the defendants were found not guilty.

Garrow made much use ofjury nullificationto limit the punishment for his convicted clients, in a time when many crimes carried the death penalty (the so-calledBloody Code). In 1784 a pair of women were arrested for stealing fans worth 15 shillings, meaning a conviction would result in the death penalty; Garrow convinced the jury to convict the women of stealing 4 shillings worth of fans, therefore changing the sentence to twelve months of hard labour.

Prosecution

Thomas Erskine,whom Garrow faced in the treason trials of the late 18th century

Garrow soon developed a large practice, working criminal trials at theOld Baileyand outside London as both defence counsel and prosecutor. By 1799, a book recorded that the number of cases he had at theCourt of King's Bench"is exceeded by none but Mr. [Thomas]Erskine's ", and that" he has long monopolized the chief business on thehome circuit... No man is heard with more attention by the court, no man gains more upon a jury, or better pleases a common auditor ".In February 1793 he was appointed aKing's Counselto help prosecute those accused of treason and sedition, less than ten years after hiscall to the Bar;and his appointment was met with a mixed response from the press.The Britondescribed Garrow and the other five appointments as the best talent of the age, while theMorning Chroniclewas bitter due to Garrow's previous status as a friend of theOfficial Opposition,theWhigs,as opposed to theTorygovernment.

As theFrench Revolutionand its perceived threat to the United Kingdom gained momentum, so did Garrow's career; he prosecuted in most of the state trials, and as he increased in experience was left to manage many of them himself, coming up against leading barristers such as Thomas Erskine,James MingayandJames Scarlett.In May 1794 the Government suspendedhabeas corpus,in 1795 outlawed all public meetings, in 1797 outlawed secret organisations and in 1799 outlawed all societies interested in reforming the way the United Kingdom was run. The Government planned a series of 800 arrests, with 300 execution warrants for high treason made out and signed, making a particular effort to prosecuteThomas HardyandJohn Horne Tooke.Hardy was the first to be tried, with the prosecution arguing that he sought a revolution in England similar to that in France. With Garrow prosecuting and Erskine defending, the trial lasted eight days instead of the normal one, and the foreman of the jury was so tense that he delivered the verdict of "not guilty" in a whisper and then immediately fainted.Tooke was then prosecuted; again, the jury found him not guilty, with the result that the other 800 trials were abandoned.

During the period when Garrow worked as abarrister,theslavocracyof theBritish West Indiesheld large amounts of power in Parliament, allowing them to maintain a monopoly on the sugar trade in Britain which produced a vast amount of profit. This industry was profitable due to the use ofBlack slave labour,to which Garrow had long been opposed; when the members of the pro-slavocracyWest India Committeeoffered him a job managing their legal and political affairs, he replied that "[even] if your committee would give me their whole incomes, and all their estates, I would not be seen as the advocate of practices which I abhor, and a system which I detest".In 1806,Thomas Picton,thegovernor of Trinidad,was charged with a single count of "causingtortureto be unlawfully inflicted "on 14-year oldfree woman of colorLuisa Calderón; he was brought before theCourt of King's BenchunderLord Ellenborough.The court records run to 367 pages, and Garrow was deeply involved as prosecuting counsel; indeed, his opening speech on 24 February 1806 is considered by Braby to be one of his best. The case centred on whether or not Spanish law, which allowed torture, was still in effect at the time of the incident. The jury eventually decided that it was not, and Ellenborough found Picton guilty. Picton's counsel requested a retrial, which was granted; the jury in the second trial eventually decided that Picton was innocent.

Thanks to Garrow's political connections, he was made firstSolicitor Generaland then Attorney General for thePrince of Walesin 1806 and 1807; he was recommended by Erskine, who said in a letter to the Prince that "he knows more of the real justice and policy of everything connected with the criminal law than any man I am acquainted with".In 1812 he prosecutedLeigh Huntfor seditious libel againstthe Prince Regent;thanks to his work, Hunt was found guilty, reversing the judgment of an 1811 trial in which he had been acquitted.

Political career

SirSamuel Romilly,Garrow's frequent opponent in Parliament

Since 1789, the press had been speculating that Garrow, aWhig,would enter Parliament; however he was first elected in 1805 forGatton.This was arotten borough,with Garrow appointed to serve the interests of his patron,Charles James Fox.After his entry into politics Garrow at first paid little attention, not making his maiden speech until 22 April 1806, when he opposed a charge for theimpeachmentofMarquess Wellesley.He spoke again on 18 June 1806 on a legal technicality, and after that did not intervene for another six years. Braby and other sources indicate that he did not enjoy his time in Parliament, and was rarely there unless required to conduct some business.

In June 1812, he was appointedSolicitor General for England,receiving the customary knighthood,and, in May 1813, he was appointedAttorney General.The Attorney General was the senior Crown prosecutor, during a time when thePrince Regentfeared liberal changes to the criminal law and Parliamentary structure. Garrow, as "a mere creature of the Regent", could be trusted to oppose this; rather than the progressive, defensive work undertaken in his early career, this period was one of conservative aggression against the reformers.Garrow ran particularly foul ofSir Samuel Romilly,who was one of those looking to reform a penal code many claimed was not working. On 5 April 1813, Romilly's Bill on Attainder of Treason and Felony came before Parliament. Its intent was to removecorruption of the bloodfrom cases involving treason and felony; Garrow, then Solicitor General, declared that the Bill would remove one of the safeguards of the British Constitution. The Bill eventually failed, and corruption of the blood was not removed from English law until theForfeiture Act 1870.He also served asChief Justice of Chesterfrom 1814 to 1817.

Garrow also became involved in the repeal of theCorn Laws,voting for the measure, and sponsored legislation to control surgical practice in the United Kingdom; the bill did not, however, pass into law.In the early 19th century animal cruelty was widespread; Garrow was one of those who found it appalling, and sponsored a bill in 1816 to increase the penalties for riding horses until their severe injury or death. While defeated, his actions were vindicated by a bill of 1820 introduced byThomas Erskine,which was given theRoyal Assentand came into law.Garrow eventually resigned as Attorney General and as a member of parliament in 1817, when he was appointed one of theBarons of the Exchequer.

Judicial career

Garrow's first judicial appointment came in 1814, when he was madeChief Justice of Chester.This was opposed bySir Samuel Romilly,who argued that the positions of Chief Justice and Attorney General were incompatible, saying "to appoint a gentleman holding a lucrative office at the sole pleasure of the Crown to a high judicial situation, was extremely inconsistent with that independence of the judicial character which it was so important to preserve inviolate".On 6 May 1817, Garrow was made aBaron of the ExchequerandSerjeant-at-Law,succeedingRichard Richards,and resigning his seat in Parliament and his position as Attorney General. He was not a particularly distinguished judge in the Exchequer, mainly due to a lack of knowledge of the finer points of law.Practising on theAssize Circuits,however, was a different matter; dealing with his more familiar criminal law rather than the commercial law of the Exchequer, Garrow performed far better. Braby indicates that he regularly amazed bothbarristersand defendants with his knowledge of the intricacies of crime.Garrow retired on 22 February 1832, replaced byJohn Gurney,and was made aPrivy Councilloron retirement as a measure of the Government's respect for him.He died at home on 14 September 1840, aged 80.

Personal life

Sarah Garrow

Garrow had an irregular relationship with Sarah Dore, who had previously borne a son, William Arthur Dore Hill, byArthur Hill, Viscount Fairfordin 1778.Thomas Hague has suggested that Dore was an Irish noblewoman Garrow had seduced, but the only intent of his writings was to disparage Garrow, and there is no evidence to support his claim.Their first child, David William Garrow, was born on 15 April 1781, and their second, Eliza Sophia Garrow, was born on 18 June 1784. Garrow and Dore finally married on 17 March 1793.Sarah was noted as particularly elegant, and was actively involved in local matters inRamsgate,where the family lived.She died on 30 June 1808 after a long illness,and was buried at theChurch of St Margaret,Darenth.David William Garrow was educated atChrist Church, Oxford,earning the degree ofDoctor of Divinity,and served as one of the Chaplains to thePrince of Wales.His son,Edward Garrow,was a cricketer and clergyman.Eliza Sophia Garrow married Samuel Fothergill Lettsom; one of her children, also named William Garrow, served as the Consul-General ofUruguay.

Legacy

Garrow's estate was valued at £22,000 after his death near Ramsgate, Kent, including £12,000 in theBank of England,£5,000 in three insurance policies and £5,000 secured by mortgages – a total of £2,509,000 in 2024 terms.Garrow's will was written in 1830 and contained only two demands; to set up a trust and to be buried in his birthplace, Hadley, with his uncle, his father's younger brother William (who had left Garrow the best part of his fortune).The trust contained his entire estate, with the trustees being Leonard Smith, a merchant, Edward Lowth Badeley of Paper Buildings,Inner TempleandWilliam Nanson LettsomofGray's Inn.The money was divided betweenJoseph Garrow,Garrow's nephew, who received £1,000, £200 to each of the children of Garrow's sister, £2,000 to the sister and £300 a year to the widow of Garrow's son. Eliza, Garrow's daughter, received £300 a year from the interest on the trust, with an additional provision of £200 for the joint use of Eliza and her husband. The estate was structured by a legal professional, and as such no death duties were paid.The second instruction was ignored: Garrow was buried in the churchyard ofSt Laurence, Ramsgate,his parish church.

Edward Fossdescribed him as "one of the most successful advocates of his day",something linked more to his "extraordinary talent" at cross-examination than his knowledge of the law;Garrow once told a witness before a case that "you know a particular fact and wish to conceal it – I'll get it out of you!"Lord Brougham,who regularly opposed him in court, wrote that "no description can give the reader an adequate idea of this eminent practitioner's powers in thus dealing with a witness".Lemmings notes Garrow as not only a formidable advocate but also the "first lawyer to establish a reputation as a defence barrister".

Garrow was largely forgotten; althoughRobert Louis Stevensonand his wife discovered his work a generation later when reading transcripts of Old Bailey cases,there was little academic work on him until the late 20th century. In 1991, John Beattie published "Garrow for the Defence" inHistory Today,followed by "Scales of Justice: Defence Counsel and the English Criminal Law in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries" inLaw and History Review.Allyson May, who did her doctoral study under Beattie, further extended the analysis of Garrow's work withThe Bar and the Old Bailey: 1750–1850,published in 2003.

Garrow's work was cited in court as recently as 1982, when theSupreme Court of Canadaquoted a passage fromThe Trial of William Davidson and Richard Tidd for High Treason,where Garrow instructed the jury as to how to interpret testimony, inVetrovec v The Queenin 1982. In 2006 he was again quoted, when theIrish Court of Criminal Appealused the same work in their review of the 1982 conviction of Brian Meehan for the murder ofVeronica Guerin.

In 2009,BBC OnebroadcastGarrow's Law,a four-part fictionalised drama of Garrow's beginnings at theOld Bailey,starringAndrew Buchanas Garrow. A second series, again of four parts, was aired in late 2010, and the third and final four-part series was broadcast in November and December 2011.

Impact

Adversarial system

It is indisputable that Garrow massively affected the modern, adversarial court system used in several western nations and the rules of evidence, although he was barely aware of it. Prior to Garrow's time, defendants in felony cases were not allowed to have defence counsel; as a result, every defendant for arson, rape, robbery, murder and most forms of theft was forced to defend themselves.The first step away from this was with theTreason Act 1695(for regulating trials in cases of treason), which allowed treason defendants the right to a counsel. Garrow's practice was a further step forward; with his aggressive and forthright style of cross-examination, he promoted a more committed defence of clients, and indirectly reformed the process of advocacy in the 18th century.His area of advocacy (he was counsel for the defence in 83% of his cases) and style is considered key by Beattie in establishing the "new school" of advocacy;his aggressive style in defence set a new style for advocates to follow that assisted in counteracting a legal system biased against the defendant. While he was not the sole cause of this reform, his position at the head of the Bar meant that he served as a highly visible example for new barristers to take after.In some ways Garrow was far ahead of his time; he coined the phrase "innocent until proven guilty"in 1791,although the jury refused to accept this principle and it was not confirmed by the courts until much later.

Evidence

Garrow also influenced the rules of evidence, which were only just beginning to evolve when he started his career. His insistence that hearsay and copied documents could not be admitted in evidence led to thebest evidence rule.He was crucial in insisting on the autonomy of lawyers when adducingevidence,in one case openly arguing with the trial judge to insist that the advocates have independence in submitting it.During this period, the use of partisan medical experts was particularly problematic. While medical experts were regularly called at theOld Bailey,the use of partisan experts was resisted, and at the beginning experts were given limited authority.While this increased towards the end of the 17th century, in line with the judges' increasing desire for certainty and facts,Garrow is noted as an excellent example of the attitude lawyers took when cross-examining such witnesses. When defending Robert Clark, accused of killing John Delew by kicking him in the stomach, Garrow used a mixture of aggressive cross-examination and medical knowledge to get the prosecution's medical expert to admit that he could not prove how Delew had died.Garrow and later advocates learned how to effectively "interrogate" such witnesses, strengthening their own arguments (when it was their expert) or demolishing those of others (when it was an expert attached to the other side).

Bibliography

• Beattie, J.M. (1991). "Scales of Justice: Defense Counsel and the English Criminal Trial in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries".Law and History Review.9(2).University of Illinois Press:221–267.doi:10.2307/743649.ISSN0738-2480.JSTOR743649.S2CID143698759.
• Braby, Richard;John Hostettler(2010).Sir William Garrow: His Life, His Times and Fight for Justice.Waterside Press.ISBN978-1-904380-55-9.
• Foss, Edward (1865).Tabulae Curiales.London: J. Murray.OCLC7481008.
• Foss, Edward (1870).A Biographical Dictionary of the Justices of England (1066–1870).Spottiswoode and Company.OCLC181068114.
• "Obituary: Rt. Hon. Sir William Garrow".Gentleman's Magazine.14.London. December 1840.
• Hostettler, John (2006).Fighting for Justice: The History and Origins of Adversary Trial.Waterside Press.ISBN1-904380-29-8.
• Hostettler, John (2008).A History of Criminal Justice in England and Wales.Waterside Press.ISBN978-1-904380-51-1.
• Landsman, Stephan (1998). "One Hundred Years of Rectitude: Medical Witnesses at the Old Bailey, 1717–1817".Law and History Review.16(3). University of Illinois Press: 445–494.doi:10.2307/744241.ISSN0738-2480.JSTOR744241.S2CID145523420.
• Langbein, John H. (1996)."Historical Foundations of the Law of Evidence: A View from the Ryder Sources".Columbia Law Review.96(5).Columbia Law School:1168–1202.doi:10.2307/1123403.ISSN0010-1958.JSTOR1123403.
• Lemmings, David (2004). "Review: The Bar and the Old Bailey, 1750–1850 by Allyson N. May".Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies.36(4). North American Conference on British Studies.ISSN0095-1390.
• May, Allyson Nancy (2003).The Bar and the Old Bailey, 1750–1850.UNC Press.ISBN0-8078-2806-8.
• Moore, Christopher (1997).The Law Society of Upper Canada and Ontario's lawyers, 1797–1997.University of Toronto Press.ISBN0-8020-4127-2.
• Polson, Archer; James Grant (1840).Law and Lawyers: or, Sketches and Illustrations of Legal History and Biography.Vol. 2. Brown, Green & Longmans.OCLC4342654.
• Richards, J. (1832).The legal Observer.Vol. 3. J. Richards.OCLC64144220.

External links

• The Garrow Society
• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by William Garrow