Thomas Chitty (1802 – 13 February 1878) was an English lawyer and legal writer, who was pupil master to a generation of eminent lawyers and played a significant role in documenting the legal reforms of the 19th century.
Thomas was the third son of Joseph Chitty and his wife, Elizabeth née Woodward. He was never called to the bar but began to practise as a special pleader in 1820 at the early age of nineteen.[1]
Legal practiceedit
Chitty practised at 1 King's Bench Walk[1] where he educated a generation of eminent pupils including:
The practice of special pleader demanded mastery of detail and the technical intricacies of the law and Chitty's career spanned huge changes from the Common Law Procedure Acts 1852-4 to the Judicature Acts 1873-5, reforms that changed the ancient regime of forms of action into, essentially, the modern system. Chitty exploited the opportunity in publishing a number of practitioners' texts including preparing new editions of:[citation needed]
John Frederick Archbold's The Practice of the Court of King's Bench in Personal Actions and Ejectments, despite Archbold's objections;
– and publishing several works in his own right including Forms of Practical Proceedings (1834). His grandson T. Willes Chitty edited the 11th edition in 1879.[1]
Family, personality and deathedit
"Chitty was known as a kind and genial man, a keen whist player and musician, and an energetic volunteer."[1] He retired in 1877, and died at home in London.[1]
In 1826, he had married Eliza née Cawston, and the couple had two sons who followed in their father's legal footsteps:[1]
Thomas Edward Chitty (1826/7-1868), clerk to the Bristolassizes;[1] and
^Barker, G. F. R. (2004) "Shee, Sir William (1804–1868)", rev. Hugh Mooney, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 24 July 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Hamilton, J. A. (2004) "Chitty, Thomas (1802–1878)", rev. Michael Lobban, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 9 August 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
thomas, chitty, other, people, named, disambiguation, 1802, february, 1878, english, lawyer, legal, writer, pupil, master, generation, eminent, lawyers, played, significant, role, documenting, legal, reforms, 19th, century, contents, early, life, legal, practi. For other people named Thomas Chitty see Thomas Chitty disambiguation Thomas Chitty 1802 13 February 1878 was an English lawyer and legal writer who was pupil master to a generation of eminent lawyers and played a significant role in documenting the legal reforms of the 19th century Contents 1 Early life 2 Legal practice 3 Family personality and death 4 References 5 Bibliography 6 SourcesEarly life editThomas was the third son of Joseph Chitty and his wife Elizabeth nee Woodward He was never called to the bar but began to practise as a special pleader in 1820 at the early age of nineteen 1 Legal practice editChitty practised at 1 King s Bench Walk 1 where he educated a generation of eminent pupils including Hugh Cairns a future Lord Chancellor 1 Farrer Herschell another 1 James Whiteside a future Chief Justice of Ireland 1 William Shee 2 and sundry future judges and politicians 1 The practice of special pleader demanded mastery of detail and the technical intricacies of the law and Chitty s career spanned huge changes from the Common Law Procedure Acts 1852 4 to the Judicature Acts 1873 5 reforms that changed the ancient regime of forms of action into essentially the modern system Chitty exploited the opportunity in publishing a number of practitioners texts including preparing new editions of citation needed John Frederick Archbold s The Practice of the Court of King s Bench in Personal Actions and Ejectments despite Archbold s objections His father s Treatise on the Parties to Actions Richard Burn s Justice of the Peace 1845 and publishing several works in his own right including Forms of Practical Proceedings 1834 His grandson T Willes Chitty edited the 11th edition in 1879 1 Family personality and death edit Chitty was known as a kind and genial man a keen whist player and musician and an energetic volunteer 1 He retired in 1877 and died at home in London 1 In 1826 he had married Eliza nee Cawston and the couple had two sons who followed in their father s legal footsteps 1 Thomas Edward Chitty 1826 7 1868 clerk to the Bristol assizes 1 and Joseph William Chitty became a judge in 1881 a notable Liberal politician 1 References edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Hamilton 2004 Barker G F R 2004 Shee Sir William 1804 1868 rev Hugh Mooney Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press accessed 24 July 2007 subscription or UK public library membership required Bibliography editObituaries Annual Register 1878 136 Solicitors Journal 23 1877 78 329 Law Journal 23 Feb 1878 131 2 2 March 1878 148Sources editHamilton John Andrew 1887 Chitty Thomas In Stephen Leslie ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 10 London Smith Elder amp Co Hamilton J A 2004 Chitty Thomas 1802 1878 rev Michael Lobban Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press accessed 9 August 2007 subscription or UK public library membership required Simpson A W B ed 1984 Biographical Dictionary of the Common Law London Butterworths ISBN 0 406 51657 X a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a author has generic name help Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thomas Chitty amp oldid 1184143767, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
