Portal:University of Oxford/Selected biography/42

Sir William Blackstone (1723–1780) was a British jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England. Born into a middle class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School and Pembroke College, Oxford. He became a Fellow of All Souls, Oxford and was later called to the Bar. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone became heavily involved in university administration. On 3 July 1753 he formally gave up his practice as a barrister and embarked on a series of lectures on English law, the first of their kind, which were massively successful. Blackstone was the first Vinerian Professor of English Law, became a successful barrister and Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Hindon. In 1766 he published the first volume of Commentaries on the Laws of England, considered his magnum opus. After repeated failures, he successfully gained appointment to the judiciary as a Justice of the Court of King's Bench in 1770, leaving to become a Justice of the Common Pleas later the same year. He remained in this position until his death, on 14 February 1780. (more...)