The New International Encyclopædia/Denman, Thomas

DEN′MAN, Thomas, Baron (1779-1854). An English jurist. He was born in London, studied at Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1806. On the accession of George IV. he was appointed solicitor-general to the Queen, and in conducting her defense won a considerable reputation both as a lawyer and as a speaker, but earned the enmity of the King, who for some time thereafter opposed his advancement. In 1818 he was elected to Parliament, and took a seat with the Whig Opposition, serving there until 1826 and being returned again in 1830. In the latter year he was made Attorney-General, and two years later became Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. In 1834 he was raised to the peerage. He resigned the office of Chief Justice in 1850. His character was marked by high moral and social virtues. As a jurist he was especially interested in the subject of law reform, and instituted important changes in the code. He also strove with great energy, both as a writer and as a judge, to effect the abolition of the slave trade.