Erskine, Thomas

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Erskine, Thomas (1750–1823). Erskine was the son of the earl of Buchan [S]. After serving in the navy and the army he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar. After a slow start he became successful in commercial cases and then achieved fame as counsel for the defence in a memorable series of important ‘political’ trials, such as those of Baillie, Stockdale, Tom Paine's The Rights of Man, and Hardy and others who supported parliamentary reform. He twice served as MP for Portsmouth, was for a time attorney-general to the prince of Wales and, from 1806–7, lord chancellor. He enjoyed immense public popularity when opposing repressive legislation, and again when he defended Queen Caroline in 1820. Erskine has been described as the supreme advocate in English legal history. His political career was less distinguished than his career at the bar, but his advocacy in some of the great 18th-cent. trials caused him to be hailed as a champion of freedom.

Maureen Mulholland

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