Stroud Francis Charles Milsom (2 May 1923 – 24 February 2016) was an English legal historian, 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 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 spher ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Biography

Milsom was born in Merton, Surrey, in 1923. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a 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 college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he read Law. Between 1944 and 1945 Milsom worked for

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

. He was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn 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 Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...

. Milsom was a fellow of New College, Oxford, 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) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

between 1964 and 1976, succeeding to

Theodore Plucknett Theodore Frank Thomas Plucknett (2 January 1897 – 14 February 1965) was a British legal historian who was the first chair of legal history at the London School of Economics. Plucknett was born on 2 January 1897 in Bristol. Plucknett complete ...

, 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 (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

. 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 w ...

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

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

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

British Academy The British Academy 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 same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

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

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. In 1986 he delivered the

Ford Lectures The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...

(Oxford) on ''Law and Society in the 12th and 13th centuries''.

References

External links

* 1923 births 2016 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge English barristers 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 British expatriates in the United States Professors of Law (Cambridge, 1973) {{UK-law-bio-stub Members of the American Philosophical Society