Charles Fearne (1742–1794) was an English

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Life

The son of Charles Fearne, judge-advocate of the Admiralty, he was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. Fearne adopted the legal profession, but devoted time and money to experiments: he saw a commercial application to

morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Maroquin, Turkey, or German Saffian from Safi, a Moroccan town famous for leather) is a vegetable-tanned leather known for its softness, pliability, and ability to take color. It has been widely ...

, and designed a

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

. He died in 1794, leaving his widow and family in impecunious circumstances.

Works

Fearne's 1772 work, "Essay on the Learning of Contingent Remainders and Executory Devices", is deemed to have done "more than any other to preserve the

Rule in Shelley's Case The Rule in ''Shelley's Case'' is a rule of law that may apply to certain future interests in real property and trusts created in common law jurisdictions.Moynihan, Cornelius (2002), ''Introduction to the Law of Real Property'' (3rd ed.), St Pa ...

as black letter law (as distinguished from a rule of construction)." His ''Essay on the Learning of Contingent Remainders and Executory Devises'', the work which has made his reputation as a legal authority, and which passed through numerous editions, was called forth by a decision of

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

in the case of ''Perrin v. Blake'', and had the effect of reversing that decision. An edition in 1797 was by his former pupil

John Joseph Powell John Joseph Powell (1816 – 15 September 1891), was a British barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency), Gloucester, 1862–1865. Life He was the eldest son of Thoma ...

, and the ''Essay on the Nature and Operation of Fines and Recoveries'' (1783) by William Cruise was inspired by ''Contingent Remainders''. A volume entitled ''Fearne's Posthumous Works'' was published by subscription in 1797 for the benefit of his widow.

References

Division Four Library Courtroom Biographies
from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. URL accessed 31 December 2005.
"The posthumous works of Charles Fearne..."
on WorldCatLibraries.

Life

Works

References

Further reading