John Willes (judge)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir John Willes (29 November 1685 – 15 December 1761) was an English lawyer and judge who was the longest-serving Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas since the 15th century. He was also a Member of Parliament.

Willes was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, and was also elected a fellow of All Souls. He joined Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar in 1713; in 1719 he became a King's Counsel, and in 1726 he was appointed a judge on the Chester circuit.

He had meanwhile entered Parliament as MP for Launceston in 1722, and subsequently also represented Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and West Looe. In 1734 he was appointed Attorney General, and knighted. In 1737 he was elevated to become Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the third most senior judge in the English legal system as it then existed, and held this post until his death in 1761; at the same time he was appointed to the Privy Council.

[edit] References

• Concise Dictionary of National Biography
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Alexander Pendarves John Freind	Member of Parliament for Launceston with Alexander Pendarves 1724-1725 John Freind 1725-1726 1724–1726	Succeeded by Henry Vane John Freind
Preceded by William Betts Sir James Thornhill Thomas Pearse John Ward	Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis with William Betts Sir James Thornhill Thomas Pearse 1726-1727 Edward Tucker 1727 1726–1727	Succeeded by William Betts Sir James Thornhill Edward Tucker Thomas Pearse
Preceded by Sir John Trelawny Edward Trelawny	Member of Parliament for West Looe with Edward Trelawny 1727-1733 Thomas Walker 1733-1734 Edward Trelawny 1734-1735 John Owen 1735-1737 1727–1737	Succeeded by John Owen Sir John Strange
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Philip Yorke	Attorney-General 1734–1737	Succeeded by Sir Dudley Ryder
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Thomas Reeve	Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1771–1780	Succeeded by Sir Charles Pratt