John Manwood (died 1610) was a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

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 ...

gamekeeper In the United Kingdom, a gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper) is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g., areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure that there is enough Game (hunting), game for hunting, or fish ...

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

, and Justice in Eyre of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

under

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. He was a close relative, probably a nephew, of Sir Roger Manwood,

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who pres ...

in the reign of Elizabeth.

Writings

Manwood's first essay on forest law entitled ''A Brefe Collection of the Lawes of the Forrest'' was circulated privately in 1592. It was revised, enlarged, and published by

Thomas Wight Thomas Wight (died ca. 1608) was a bookseller, publisher and draper in London. Wight published many important books, including many of the earliest law books in English. Career Together with his father, the draper John Wight, he published seven ...

and Bonham Norton in 1598 as ''A Treatise and Discourse of the Lawes of the Forrest''. This underwent numerous subsequent editions, most notably in that of 1615 by the ''Societie of Stationers'', a version which included material from the ''Brefe Collection'' which was not included in the 1598 version. Manwood's book remained a standard reference on forest law through the mid-1900s. His ''Treatise'' has become perhaps the most-cited secondary source of forest law. As such it is quoted approvingly by Sir

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...

in his ''

Commentaries on the Laws of England The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (commonly, but informally known as ''Blackstone's Commentaries'') are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarend ...

''. However, although Manwood's work is considered by Blackstone to be authoritative, others have pointed out that Manwood, being himself a royal officer, had an interest in amplifying the institutions he described. It has also been pointed out that these institutions had in his time largely fallen into desuetude, and his descriptions may be partly artificial and fanciful.''About Manwood and His Forest Treatise'' by Joshua Calhoun
Manwood was the great great great grandfather of Sir

Nicholas Conyngham Tindal Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal, PC (12 December 1776 – 6 July 1846) was a celebrated English lawyer who successfully defended the then Queen of the United Kingdom, Caroline of Brunswick, at her trial for adultery in 1820. As Chief Justic ...

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

from 1829 to 1843.

Note

He is sometimes confused with his kinsman Sir Roger Manwood (1525–1593).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manwood, John Year of birth missing 16th-century births 1610 deaths 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English legal writers English barristers Members of Lincoln's Inn English male non-fiction writers 16th-century English lawyers