Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden
Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, PC (baptised 21 March 1714 – 18 April 1794) was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician who was first to hold the title of Earl Camden. As a lawyer and judge he was a leading proponent of civil liberties, championing the rights of the jury, and limiting the powers of the State in leading cases such as Entick v Carrington.
The Earl Camden
before 21 March 1714
Kensington, London, England
18 April 1794 (aged 80)
He held the offices of Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Attorney-General and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, and was a confidant of Pitt the Elder, supporting Pitt in the controversies over John Wilkes and American independence. However, he clung to office himself, even when Pitt was out of power, serving in the cabinet for fifteen years and under five different prime ministers.
During his life, Pratt played a leading role in opposing perpetual copyright, resolving the regency crisis of 1788 and championing Fox's Libel Bill. He started the development of the settlement that was later to become Camden Town in London.
Early life[edit]
Born in Kensington in 1714, he was a descendant of an old Devon family of high standing, the third son of Sir John Pratt, Chief Justice of the King's Bench in the reign of George I.[1] Charles's mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Rev. Hugh Wilson of Trefeglwys, and the aunt of landscape painter Richard Wilson.[2] He received his early education at Eton, where he became acquainted with William Pitt, and King's College, Cambridge.[3] He had already developed an interest in constitutional law and civil liberties.[4] In 1734 he became a fellow of his college, and in the following year obtained his degree of BA.[3] Having adopted his father's profession, he had entered the Middle Temple in 1728, and ten years later he was called to the Bar.[1]
Early years at the Bar[edit]
He practised at first in the courts of common law, travelling also the western circuit. For some years his practice was so limited, and he became so much discouraged that he seriously thought of turning his back on the law and entering the church. He listened, however, to the advice of his friend Sir Robert Henley, a brother barrister, and persevered, working on and waiting for success.[1] Reputedly, once instructed as Henley's junior, Henley feigned illness so that Pratt could lead and earn the credit.[5]
He was further aided by an advantageous marriage on 5 October 1749 to Elizabeth,[6] daughter of Nicholas Jeffreys of the Priory, Brecknock, by whom he had a son John Jeffreys, his successor in title and estates, and four daughters,[7] of whom the eldest, Frances, married Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry on 7 June 1775.[5]
The first case which brought him prominently into notice and gave him assurance of ultimate success was the government prosecution, in 1752, of a bookseller, William Owen.[1] Owen had published a book The Case of Alexander Murray, Esq; in an Appeal to the people of Great Britain which the House of Commons had, by resolution of the House, condemned as "an impudent, malicious, scandalous and seditious libel". The author had left the country so the weight of the government's censure fell on Owen.[8] Pratt appeared in Owen's defence and his novel argument was that it was not the sole role of the jury to determine the fact of publication but that it was further their right to assess the intent of a libel.[4] In his summing up, the judge, Lord Chief Justice Sir William Lee directed the jury to find Owen guilty as publication was proved and the intent of the contents was a question of law for the judge, not a question of fact for the jury. The jury disagreed and acquitted Owen.[8] Pratt was appointed King's Counsel in 1755, and knighted in December 1761.[4]
The American Stamp Act crisis[edit]
On 17 July 1765 Pratt was created Baron Camden, of Camden Place, in Chislehurst, Kent, becoming a member of the House of Lords. Prime Minister Lord Rockingham had unsuccessfully made this, and other appointments, to curry favour with Pitt but Camden was not over-eager to get involved in the crisis surrounding the Stamp Act 1765. Camden did attend the Commons on 14 January 1766 and his subsequent speeches on the matter in the Lords are so similar to Pitt's that he had clearly adopted the party line. He was one of only five Lords who voted against the Declaratory Act, a resolution of the House insisting on parliament's right to tax colonies overseas. Camden insisted that taxation was predicated on consent and that consent needed representation. However, when he came to support the government over the Act's repeal, he rather unconvincingly purported to base his opinion on the actual hardship caused by the Act rather than its constitutional basis.[4]
Working Lord[edit]
Into opposition[edit]
Chatham, Rockingham and Grenville were expected to combine to bring down Grafton, when it was expected that Lord Camden would return to the woolsack. However, though Grafton resigned, Lord North managed to form a successor administration and Camden was left to the opposition, continuing to sit in the Lords. From 1770 onwards, Chatham neglected parliamentary attendance and left leadership of the house to Lord Shelburne with whom Camden could manage only the coolest of relationships.[4]
During 1770–71, Camden tussled with Lord Mansfield over the law of libel, Camden maintaining that the jury should not only decide whether the work in question was published but also whether the words themselves were defamatory or innocent. He opposed the extension of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 to all descendants of King George II, believing it to be impractical. In 1774, in the House of Lords appeal in the case of Donaldson v Beckett, Camden spoke against the concept of perpetual copyright for fear of inhibiting the advancement of learning. This was a key influence on the ultimate rejection of that year's Booksellers' Bill.[4][12]
The American crisis of 1774[edit]
The year 1774 brought a renewed crisis over America. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 led Lord North to seek a blockade of the city through the Boston Port Bill. Camden roundly criticised the taxes that had led to the American protests, as he had opposed them in Cabinet from 1767 to 1769, but was reminded that he was Lord Chancellor when they were imposed. The Chathamite faction went on to support the Bill and further to support the Massachusetts Government Act, Camden's inherent patriotism bringing him into line. However, by May, fears that the Bill would focus and strengthen American resistance led Camden to oppose the measure.[4]
On 16 February 1775, Camden made his major speech on the crisis, opposing public opinion and the New England Trade and Fishery Bill, a speech often believed to have been drafted in collaboration with Benjamin Franklin for an American audience. Camden invoked John Locke's dictum that resistance to tyranny was justified and called the Bill:[4]