Romilly, Sir Samuel
Romilly, Sir Samuel (1757–1818). Legal reformer. Born of a Huguenot family in London, he abandoned religion in favour of Rousseau and continental reformers, including Dumont (later editor of Bentham's works), Beccaria (the Italian legal reformer), and Mirabeau (the French revolutionary leader). An initial enthusiast for the French Revolution, he successfully defended John Binns, the Irish radical, on a sedition charge in 1797. In 1800 he became a king's counsel in Chancery and in 1806 Whig solicitor-general. He sat as MP for Queenborough (1806), Wareham (1808), Arundel (1812), and Westminster (1818), opposing the Corn Law in 1815 and the suspension of habeas corpus in 1817, and supporting the abolition of slavery and catholic emancipation. Romilly wished to reduce the number of capital crimes but most of his time was spent powerless in opposition. He committed suicide four days after the death of his wife in 1818.
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Sir Samuel Romilly
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Sir Samuel Romilly