Abstract
Edward Thurlow and Alexander Wedderburn, the two last Lord Chancellors
of the eighteenth century, figure in the standard histories of English
law as lightweight jurists and unprincipled politicians. The article
examines two of their more substantial contributions to equity: they
extended the equitable protection of non-commercial debtors from their
creditors, and limited the application of the Roman rule, received in
English equity, holding void clauses making children's entitlement to
their portions conditional on parental consent to their choice of
spouse, to children marrying during minority. The article then explains
their bad posthumous reputations as a result of their contemporaries'
and nineteenth century commentators' dislike for their naked careerism
and opportunism, along with the tightening of the puritanical screws at
the turn of the eighteenth century.
| Original language | English |
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| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 1 2008 |