Julius Caesar (judge)

Sir Julius Caesar (1557/1558 – 18 April 1636) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1589 and 1622.

Caesar was born near Tottenham in Middlesex, the son of Giulio Cesare Adelmare and his wife Margery Perient, daughter of George Perient of Shropshire and Hertfordshire. His father was an Italian physician to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, descended by the female line from the dukes of Cesarini.^[1] Caesar was possibly educated at Winchester College and matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford under date 10 January 1575, aged 16 and was awarded BA on 17 May 1575 and MA on 18 February 1578. He then studied at the University of Paris, where he was made LLB and LLD on 22 April 1581.^[2]

Caesar was noted for his persistent striving for advancement and for financial reward in the time of Queen Elizabeth. He was a general commissioner on piracy in October 1581. In 1583 he was counsel to City of London and commissary of his friend John Aylmer, the Bishop of London in Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Essex.^[1] On 5 March 1584 he was awarded a law degree at Oxford, and became doctor of canon law.^[2] In 1584, he became judge of the admiralty court, and was an advocate of Doctors' Commons in 1586. In 1588 he became a master in chancery. He was elected MP for Reigate in 1589. He became Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1590 and was master in the extraordinary of Court of Requests in 1591. He became J.P. from 1592 and was governor of mineral and battery works in 1593. Also in 1593 he was elected MP for Bletchingley. He was treasurer of the Inner Temple in 1593. He became master in the ordinary of Court of Requests in 1595 and Master of St Katherine's Hospital in 1596. In 1597 he was elected MP for Windsor and was re-elected MP for Windsor in 1601.^[1]

In the reign of King James, Caesar acquired extensive property, particularly in Hertfordshire, and achieved greater influence and political importance. He was knighted at Greenwich by King James in May 1603. He also became ecclesiatical commissioner for the province of Canterbury in 1603. In 1606 he was elected MP for Middlesex. He was Chancellor and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer from 1606 to 1614. In 1614 he was appointed Master of the Rolls, an office which he held till his death in 1636. He was re-elected MP for Middlesex in 1614. In 1621 he became first commissioner for the great seal and was elected MP for Maldon. He was commissioner to inquire into operation of the poor law from 1631 to 1633.^[1]

Caesar died at the age of 79 and was buried at Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate.^[2]

Caesar married three times. He married firstly Dorcas Lusher, widow of Richard Lusher of the Middle Temple and daughter of Sir Richard Martin, master of the mint and later Lord Mayor of London, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. He married secondly Alice Dent, widow of John Dent, merchant of London, and daughter of Christopher Green of Manchester, Lancashire, with whom he had three more sons. He married thirdly Anne Hogan, widow of Henry Hogan of East Bradenham, Norfolk and daughter of Henry Woodhouse of Waxham, Norfolk.^[1]

Caesar was a remarkable civil servant and left many volumes of papers relating to his official work, and others relating to the mint, of which his first father-in-law was master. He worked on the history of the Exchequer, and presented to Burghley a history of the court of requests "to defend it against the slights of the common lawyers".^[1] His manuscripts, many of which are now in the British Museum, were sold by auction in 1757 for a sum of around £500.

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