William Blackstone

Profession: Jurist

Nationality:

Biography: William Blackstone is best known for writing "Commentaries on the Laws of England" (1765-1769), which gave a complete overview of English common law. This work had a significant impact on legal education and law in England, the United States, and other English-speaking countries.

Blackstone was born in London to a middle-class family. He did well in school despite money problems and went on to study at Oxford where he became very interested in law.

Blackstone became a lawyer in 1746 but had trouble starting a successful practice at first. He became involved with Oxford University and in 1753 started giving the first lectures on English law. These lectures were the basis for his famous "Commentaries on the Laws of England.”

The "Commentaries" were published in four volumes from 1765 to 1769. They were very successful and influenced important figures such as Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, and Abraham Lincoln. To this day they are still mentioned in Supreme Court decisions.

In 1770, Blackstone was made a judge and he held this position until his death in 1780. As a judge, he came up with the idea of "Blackstone's Ratio,” which says it is better for ten guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to suffer.

Born: July 10, 1723
Birthplace: London, England
Star Sign: Cancer

Died: February 14, 1780 (aged 56)