Stroud Francis Charles Milsom (2 May 1923 – 24 February 2016) was an English

legal historian Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and histo ...

, best known for his challenge to aspects of the works of F. W. Maitland. He was Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge from 1976 to 1990 and Fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

from 1976 until his death. He was President of the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Biography

Milsom was born in Merton,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, in 1923. He was educated at Charterhouse and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he read Law. Between 1944 and 1945 Milsom worked for Naval Intelligence. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1947, but never practiced. The same year, he received a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

. Milsom was a fellow of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, from 1956 to 1964, when he completed for publication ''Novae Narrationes'', the

's volume for 1963, later cited in his book ''Historical Foundations of the Common Law''. Milsom was Professor of Legal History at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

between 1964 and 1976, succeeding to Theodore Plucknett, and he succeeded Plucknett as Literary Director of the Selden Society, 1965-1980. The first edition of his seminal ''Historical Foundations of the Common Law'' was published in 1969. During those years, he also taught occasionally as a visiting professor at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. Subsequently, Milsom was the society's President from 1985 to 1988, succeeding to

Geoffrey Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and ...

. From 1976 to 1990 he was Professor of Law at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In 1980, he delivered the Selden Society's lecture, on ''The Nature of Blackstone's Achievement'', and the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

's Master-Mind Lecture, on F. W. Maitland. In 1984, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. In 1986 he delivered the Ford Lectures (Oxford) on ''Law and Society in the 12th and 13th centuries''. Milson won the Ames Prize in 1972 and the Swiney Prize in 1974. He received honorary LLDs from Cambridge, Chicago, and Glasgow universities.

References

External links

* 1923 births 2016 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge English barristers British legal historians People from Merton (parish) Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Academics of the London School of Economics University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Members of Lincoln's Inn Honorary King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers Admiralty personnel of World War II English expatriates in the United States Professors of Law (Cambridge, 1973) {{UK-law-bio-stub Members of the American Philosophical Society