Michael John Warrender Lobban, FBA (born 22 October 1962) is a South African legal historian. He has been a Senior Research Fellow 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 ...

since 2022, before which he 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 ...

from 2013.

Career

Michael Lobban was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

on 22 October 1962. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating with a

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 ...

degree in 1984, and then studying for a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

there. His

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

was awarded in 1988 for his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

"The development of common law theory: English jurisprudence c. 1760 – c. 1830". After holding a junior lectureship at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

in 1988, he was elected to a

junior research fellowship After completing a postgraduate degree, one of the options is to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) program. These Ph.D programs cost money and time. To help a scholar there are many Research Fellowship Schemes in India funded by either a gov ...

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, in 1988. In 1991, he was appointed to a lectureship at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, and promoted to a readership there four years later. In 1997, he joined

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

as a reader, and in 2000 took up a readership at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

, where he was appointed Professor of Legal History in 2003. In 2013, he moved to the

to be Professor of Legal History. In 2022, he returned to Oxford as a Senior Research Fellow at

.https://www.asc.ox.ac.uk/person/professor-michael-lobban. According to his

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 ...

profile, Lobban specialises in the "history of eighteenth and nineteenth century English law and lawyers, with a special focus on the relationship between doctrine, institutions and legal and political thought"."Professor Michael Lobban"
''British Academy''. Retrieved 2 July 2018. He serves as Secretary 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 ...

Honours and awards

In 2015, Lobban was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences.

Selected publications

* ''The Common Law and English Jurisprudence, 1760–1850'' (Clarendon Press, 1991). * ''White Man's Justice: South African Political Trials in the Black Consciousness Era'' (Oxford University Press, 1996). * ''A History of the Philosophy of Law in the Common Law World, 1600–1900'' (Springer, 2007). * (Co-authored with William Cornish, J. Stuart Anderson, Ray Cocks, Patrick Polden, and Keith Smith) ''The Oxford History of the Laws of England'', vols. 11–13 (2010). * ''Law in Theory and History: New Essays on a Neglected Dialogue'', eds. Maksymilian Del Mar and Michael Lobban (Hart Publishing, 2016). * ''Law, Lawyers and Litigants in Early Modern England" Essays in Memory of Christopher W. Brooks'', eds. Adrian Green, Joanne Begiato, and Michael Lobban (Cambridge University Press, 2019) * ''Networks and Connections in Legal History'', eds. Michael Lobban and Ian Williams (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobban, Michael Living people 1962 births Legal historians Fellows of the British Academy Academics of Durham University