James Mansfield

Sir James Mansfield, (originally Manfield; 10 May 1734 – 23 November 1821) was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Solicitor General and served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1799 to 1814. Early life and career The son of a Hampshire attorney, Mansfield's private life was kept somewhat guarded. His father John James changed the family name from Manfield to Mansfield. James married Grace in 1765 at St Margaret's Westminster, fathered six children (only one of whom is believed to have survived into adulthood), but also had another five children by another partner. One of these five was John Mansfield of Diggeswell, father of General William Mansfield, 1st Baron Sandhurst. Mansfield attended Eton from 1745 until 1750, and then King's College, Cambridge, of which he was elected a fellow in 1754. He graduated with a BA in 1755 and an MA in 1758. Mansfield pursued a career in law, obtaining admission to the Middle Temple on 11 February 1755 and being called to the bar on 28 November 1758. His career, both at common law and in chancery, was quite successful, and he was appointed one of the counsel for John Wilkes in 1768. Mansfield was one of James Somersett's lawyers; Somersett was a slave brought by his master from Jamaica to London in 1769, and freed on 22 June 1772 by a ruling from Lord Mansfield (no relation).