James Oldham
Biographic Data
| ID | 5201669 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James Oldham |
| GIVEN NAMES | James |
| FAMILY NAME | Oldham |
| SIGNATURE | OLDHAM J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Georgetown University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Law of Negligence as Reported in The Times , 1785–1820
Historically, the clear recognition by the courts that all adults in public intercourse owe a duty of reasonable care to avoid injuring others has been seen as an early nineteenth century development. Occasionally it is recognized that what is known about the emergence of the tort of negligence in English law comes almost entirely from the printed reports of civil (plea side) cases tried in the three common law courts (King's Bench, Common Pleas,…
Law versus Equity—as Reflected in Lord Eldon’s Manuscripts
The received version of Lord Eldon's conception of equity is often extracted from decisions such as Gee v. Pritchard (1818), describing equity as a settled set of fixed principles almost as uniform as those of the Common Law. Yet, as has been noted in recent scholarship, this version does not do justice to Eldon's multi-layered views. This article re-examines Eldon's subtleties by reference to Eldon's manuscripts now held by Georgetown University…
Carlen v Drury (1812): The Origins of the Internal Management Debate in Corporate Law
The origins of the internal management debate and business judgment rule in Anglo-American corporate law can be traced to the landmark case of Carlen v Drury (1812). Through the use of new manuscript sources and archival material, this article offers a deeper analysis of the case than has previously been available. It reveals a number of allegations omitted by the printed reports. By placing the case within its wider historical context, the artic…
Arbitration in America: The Early History
On June 29, 1789, Zephaniah Turner of Charles County, Maryland, wrote to President George Washington and observed: Our Laws are too Numerous. Is it not possible that an alteration might take place for the benefit of the public?...Could it not be possible to curtail the Number of Lawyers in the different States? Suppose each State was to have but Two Lawyers to be paid liberally...[and] where a real dispute subsisted between Plaintiff and Defendan…
Informal Lawmaking in England by the Twelve Judges in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries
In 1848, Parliament created the Court for Crown Cases Reserved, in which all of the common law judges heard and decided questions reserved by trial judges in criminal cases. As Sir John Baker explains, this was “a court of record, which would now sit in public and give reasons for its decisions,” even though “the reservation of cases was still at the discretion of the trial judge and the court did not have the powers of the court en banc in civil…
Insurance Litigation Involving the Zong and Other British Slave Ships, 1780–1807
The infamous Zong case played an instrumental part in the abolition movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and it is well known to historians of the slave trade. Not so well known, however, are the characteristics and practices of insuring slave cargo. Also the full story of the Zong incident and the subsequent litigation in the court of King's Bench has never been told. This article first explains the manner in which the…
A Profusion of Chancery Reform
The refrain that law and equity cannot peaceably cohabit the same court is familiar and persistent. In his 1790 treatise on contracts, Joseph Powell protested that blending law and equity was “subversive of first principles.” He claimed, “That a right in itself purely legal cannot be the proper subject of discussion in a jurisdiction purely equitable, and that a right purely equitable, cannot be the proper subject of a purely legal jurisdiction, …
Law-making at nisi prius in the early 1800s
The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century
Using voluminous trial notes and previously unexplored documentary sources, Oldham (law, Georgetown U. Law Center) provides a reappraisal of the judicial career of Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench in England from 1756 to 1799. Called the greatest lawyer of the century by
Truth-Telling in the Eighteenth-Century English Courtroom
Mirjan Damaška, in his 1973 comparative study of criminal procedure in the Anglo-American and continental traditions, asserts that “the continental non-adversary system of procedure is more committed to the search for truth than is the Anglo-American adversary system.” He reasons that the stronger procedural obstacles to truth-finding in the adversary system derive from a collective horror of convicting innocent people
The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century
Journal Article The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century Get access Oldham James. The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century. 2 volumes. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. Approx. 1728 pp. $150.00. John W. Cairns John W. Cairns University of Edinburgh Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of L…
John Locke, Lord Mansfield, and Arbitration During the Eighteenth Century
An exploration of the origins of the Arbitration Act of 1698 and an analysis of court-related arbitration during the next century. Principal conclusions: (1) that the act originated at the board of trade, with John Locke drafting and drawing upon judicial practice of the later 1600s; (2) that use of the act's provisions was limited before the 1770s even though extra-judicial arbitration was proliferating; (3) that thereafter, with the Court of Ki…
New Light on Mansfield and Slavery
Popular history often credits Lord Mansfield with freeing the slaves in England by his decision in the Somerset case. That he did not do so is by now agreed and is a point featured in modern scholarship on slavery. This is the main burden, for example, of F. O. Shyllon's Black Slaves in Britain (1974). How extensively the popular history should be revised has not been settled. Newly discovered sources now permit a reassessment of this question. W…
Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform
(1987). Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 148-166
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports Get access James Oldham James Oldham Professor of Law *Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D. C. This paper was originally prepared for The Conference on British Legal Manuscripts, The Newberry Library, Chicago, April 1986. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 31, Issue 1, Janu…
Law Reporting in the London Newspapers, 1756-1786
Journal Article Law Reporting in the London Newspapers, 1756–1786 Get access James Oldham James Oldham Professor of Law 1.Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. This paper was prepared for the Seventh British Legal History Conference, The University of Kent at Canterbury, July 1985. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 31, Issue 3, July 1987, Pages 177–206, …
The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract
Journal Article The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract Get access Atiyah P. S., The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1979. xi, 791 pp. $49.50. James C. Oldham James C. Oldham Georgetown University Law Center Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 1982, Pages 81–83, https://doi.org/10.2307/844611 Published: 01 January 198…
Insurance Litigation Involving the Zong and Other British Slave Ships, 1780–1807
The infamous Zong case played an instrumental part in the abolition movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and it is well known to historians of the slave trade. Not so well known, however, are the characteristics and practices of insuring slave cargo. Also the full story of the Zong incident and the subsequent litigation in the court of King's Bench has never been told. This article first explains the manner in which the…
John Locke, Lord Mansfield, and Arbitration During the Eighteenth Century
An exploration of the origins of the Arbitration Act of 1698 and an analysis of court-related arbitration during the next century. Principal conclusions: (1) that the act originated at the board of trade, with John Locke drafting and drawing upon judicial practice of the later 1600s; (2) that use of the act's provisions was limited before the 1770s even though extra-judicial arbitration was proliferating; (3) that thereafter, with the Court of Ki…
New Light on Mansfield and Slavery
Popular history often credits Lord Mansfield with freeing the slaves in England by his decision in the Somerset case. That he did not do so is by now agreed and is a point featured in modern scholarship on slavery. This is the main burden, for example, of F. O. Shyllon's Black Slaves in Britain (1974). How extensively the popular history should be revised has not been settled. Newly discovered sources now permit a reassessment of this question. W…
Informal Lawmaking in England by the Twelve Judges in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries
In 1848, Parliament created the Court for Crown Cases Reserved, in which all of the common law judges heard and decided questions reserved by trial judges in criminal cases. As Sir John Baker explains, this was “a court of record, which would now sit in public and give reasons for its decisions,” even though “the reservation of cases was still at the discretion of the trial judge and the court did not have the powers of the court en banc in civil…
Truth-Telling in the Eighteenth-Century English Courtroom
Mirjan Damaška, in his 1973 comparative study of criminal procedure in the Anglo-American and continental traditions, asserts that “the continental non-adversary system of procedure is more committed to the search for truth than is the Anglo-American adversary system.” He reasons that the stronger procedural obstacles to truth-finding in the adversary system derive from a collective horror of convicting innocent people
Arbitration in America: The Early History
On June 29, 1789, Zephaniah Turner of Charles County, Maryland, wrote to President George Washington and observed: Our Laws are too Numerous. Is it not possible that an alteration might take place for the benefit of the public?...Could it not be possible to curtail the Number of Lawyers in the different States? Suppose each State was to have but Two Lawyers to be paid liberally...[and] where a real dispute subsisted between Plaintiff and Defendan…
A Profusion of Chancery Reform
The refrain that law and equity cannot peaceably cohabit the same court is familiar and persistent. In his 1790 treatise on contracts, Joseph Powell protested that blending law and equity was “subversive of first principles.” He claimed, “That a right in itself purely legal cannot be the proper subject of discussion in a jurisdiction purely equitable, and that a right purely equitable, cannot be the proper subject of a purely legal jurisdiction, …
Law-making at nisi prius in the early 1800s
Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform
(1987). Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 148-166
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports Get access James Oldham James Oldham Professor of Law *Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D. C. This paper was originally prepared for The Conference on British Legal Manuscripts, The Newberry Library, Chicago, April 1986. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 31, Issue 1, Janu…
The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract
Journal Article The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract Get access Atiyah P. S., The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1979. xi, 791 pp. $49.50. James C. Oldham James C. Oldham Georgetown University Law Center Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 26, Issue 1, January 1982, Pages 81–83, https://doi.org/10.2307/844611 Published: 01 January 198…
Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform
(1987). Special juries in England: Nineteenth century usage and reform. The Journal of Legal History: Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 148-166
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports
Eighteenth-Century Judges' Notes: How They Explain, Correct and Enhance the Reports Get access James Oldham James Oldham Professor of Law *Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D. C. This paper was originally prepared for The Conference on British Legal Manuscripts, The Newberry Library, Chicago, April 1986. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 31, Issue 1, Janu…
Law Reporting in the London Newspapers, 1756-1786
Journal Article Law Reporting in the London Newspapers, 1756–1786 Get access James Oldham James Oldham Professor of Law 1.Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. This paper was prepared for the Seventh British Legal History Conference, The University of Kent at Canterbury, July 1985. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 31, Issue 3, July 1987, Pages 177–206, …
New Light on Mansfield and Slavery
Popular history often credits Lord Mansfield with freeing the slaves in England by his decision in the Somerset case. That he did not do so is by now agreed and is a point featured in modern scholarship on slavery. This is the main burden, for example, of F. O. Shyllon's Black Slaves in Britain (1974). How extensively the popular history should be revised has not been settled. Newly discovered sources now permit a reassessment of this question. W…
John Locke, Lord Mansfield, and Arbitration During the Eighteenth Century
An exploration of the origins of the Arbitration Act of 1698 and an analysis of court-related arbitration during the next century. Principal conclusions: (1) that the act originated at the board of trade, with John Locke drafting and drawing upon judicial practice of the later 1600s; (2) that use of the act's provisions was limited before the 1770s even though extra-judicial arbitration was proliferating; (3) that thereafter, with the Court of Ki…
The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century
Using voluminous trial notes and previously unexplored documentary sources, Oldham (law, Georgetown U. Law Center) provides a reappraisal of the judicial career of Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench in England from 1756 to 1799. Called the greatest lawyer of the century by
Truth-Telling in the Eighteenth-Century English Courtroom
Mirjan Damaška, in his 1973 comparative study of criminal procedure in the Anglo-American and continental traditions, asserts that “the continental non-adversary system of procedure is more committed to the search for truth than is the Anglo-American adversary system.” He reasons that the stronger procedural obstacles to truth-finding in the adversary system derive from a collective horror of convicting innocent people
The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century
Journal Article The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century Get access Oldham James. The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century. 2 volumes. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. Approx. 1728 pp. $150.00. John W. Cairns John W. Cairns University of Edinburgh Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of L…
A Profusion of Chancery Reform
The refrain that law and equity cannot peaceably cohabit the same court is familiar and persistent. In his 1790 treatise on contracts, Joseph Powell protested that blending law and equity was “subversive of first principles.” He claimed, “That a right in itself purely legal cannot be the proper subject of discussion in a jurisdiction purely equitable, and that a right purely equitable, cannot be the proper subject of a purely legal jurisdiction, …
Law-making at nisi prius in the early 1800s
Insurance Litigation Involving the Zong and Other British Slave Ships, 1780–1807
The infamous Zong case played an instrumental part in the abolition movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and it is well known to historians of the slave trade. Not so well known, however, are the characteristics and practices of insuring slave cargo. Also the full story of the Zong incident and the subsequent litigation in the court of King's Bench has never been told. This article first explains the manner in which the…
Informal Lawmaking in England by the Twelve Judges in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries
In 1848, Parliament created the Court for Crown Cases Reserved, in which all of the common law judges heard and decided questions reserved by trial judges in criminal cases. As Sir John Baker explains, this was “a court of record, which would now sit in public and give reasons for its decisions,” even though “the reservation of cases was still at the discretion of the trial judge and the court did not have the powers of the court en banc in civil…
Arbitration in America: The Early History
On June 29, 1789, Zephaniah Turner of Charles County, Maryland, wrote to President George Washington and observed: Our Laws are too Numerous. Is it not possible that an alteration might take place for the benefit of the public?...Could it not be possible to curtail the Number of Lawyers in the different States? Suppose each State was to have but Two Lawyers to be paid liberally...[and] where a real dispute subsisted between Plaintiff and Defendan…
Carlen v Drury (1812): The Origins of the Internal Management Debate in Corporate Law
The origins of the internal management debate and business judgment rule in Anglo-American corporate law can be traced to the landmark case of Carlen v Drury (1812). Through the use of new manuscript sources and archival material, this article offers a deeper analysis of the case than has previously been available. It reveals a number of allegations omitted by the printed reports. By placing the case within its wider historical context, the artic…
The Law of Negligence as Reported in The Times , 1785–1820
Historically, the clear recognition by the courts that all adults in public intercourse owe a duty of reasonable care to avoid injuring others has been seen as an early nineteenth century development. Occasionally it is recognized that what is known about the emergence of the tort of negligence in English law comes almost entirely from the printed reports of civil (plea side) cases tried in the three common law courts (King's Bench, Common Pleas,…
Law versus Equity—as Reflected in Lord Eldon’s Manuscripts
The received version of Lord Eldon's conception of equity is often extracted from decisions such as Gee v. Pritchard (1818), describing equity as a settled set of fixed principles almost as uniform as those of the Common Law. Yet, as has been noted in recent scholarship, this version does not do justice to Eldon's multi-layered views. This article re-examines Eldon's subtleties by reference to Eldon's manuscripts now held by Georgetown University…
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