John Keiran Barry Moylan Nicholas (6 July 1919 – 3 March 2002) was a British legal scholar. He was Professor of Comparative Law at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1971 to 1978, and Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1978 to 1989.

Early life

Nicholas was born on 6 July 1919 to Archibald John Nicholas and Rose (née Moylan). He was educated at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

, a Catholic

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. He then

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

into

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, where he studied classics. In 1939, he achieved

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in Literae Humaniores. After taking a leave to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he returned to study

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, graduating with a first class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1946.

Academic career

Nicholas began teaching at Brasenose College in 1946, and he served as its principal from 1978 to 1989. He gave up the position at the appointed age of 70, but he did not retire. Additionally, he served as reader in Roman Law at

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

from 1949 to 1971 and Professor of Comparative Law at the

from 1971 to 1978. Nicholas' '' An Introduction to Roman Law'' is a standard text in the study of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

. Upon Nicholas' death on 3 March 2002,

Peter Birks Peter Brian Herrenden Birks (3 October 1941 – 6 July 2004) was the Regius Professor of Civil Law (Oxford), Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford from 1989 until his death. He also became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1 ...

memorialized his work on behalf of 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Barry 1919 births 2002 deaths Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Principals of Brasenose College, Oxford Linklaters Professors of Comparative Law People educated at Downside School Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford