Earl Mansfield by Jean Baptiste van Loo
The Mansfield Society, the Christ Church Law Society, takes its name from Earl Mansfield, a scholar of the college between 1723 and 1727 and Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench between 1756 and 1788.
Earl Mansfield is most remembered for his judgments in two key cases which were to shape English law for years to come, the most notable of which was Somersett’s Case (1772). His judgment was widely misinterpretted as emancipating all slaves within the British Isles and the unintended ramifications of this helped precipitate the abolition of slavery by Act of Parliament in 1833.
The second case was that of Jones v Randall (1774) in which he stated emphatically the prevailing conservative orthodoxy of the time that the scope of the law extended to enforce moral standards:
‘Whatever is contra bonos mores et decorum the principles of our laws prohibit and the King’s Court as the general censor and guardian of the public morals is bound to restrain and punish.’
The Society was formed in 1991 and organises a programme of events that changes from year to year.