William Scott, 1st Baron Stowell (17 October 1745 – 28 January 1836) was an English judge and jurist.
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Scott was born at Heworth, a village about four miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of a coalfitter (or tradesman engaged in the transport of coal). His younger brother John Scott became Lord Chancellor and was made Earl of Eldon. He was educated at Newcastle Royal Grammar School and Corpus Christi College at Oxford University, where he gained a Durham scholarship in 1761. In 1764 he graduated and became first a probationary fellow and then as successor to William (afterwards the well known Sir William) Jones a tutor of University College. As Camden reader of ancient history he rivalled the reputation of Blackstone. Although he had joined the Middle Temple in 1762, it was not till 1776 that Scott devoted himself to a systematic study of law.
Scott graduated as doctor of civil law, and, after a customary year of silence, commenced practice in the ecclesiastical courts. His professional success was rapid. In 1783 he became registrar of the court of faculties, and in 1788 judge of the consistory court and advocate-general, in that year too receiving the honor of knighthood; and in 1798 he was made judge of the high court of admiralty. He twice contested Oxford University in 1780 without success, but successfully in 1801. He also sat for Downton in 1790. Upon the coronation of George IV in 1821 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Stowell, of Stowell Park in the County of Gloucester,[1] taking his title from the name of his estate. After a life of judicial service Lord Stowell retired from the bench – from the consistory court in August 1821, and from the high court of admiralty in December 1827.
Lord Stowell was twice married. First, in 1781, to Anna Maria, eldest daughter and heiress of John Bagnall of Erleigh Court, near Reading, in Berkshire, where the two later resided. They had four children, one of whom, a daughter, survived him. He married again, in 1813, the dowager Marchioness of Sligo. He died on 28 January 1836, aged 90, when the barony became extinct.
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Baron Stowell 1821–1836 |
Extinct |