Robert Harper (''c''. 1700 - 1772) was an English conveyancer and drafter of parliamentary bills.
Biography
He was born the eldest son of Samuel Harper of
Farnley,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. He was admitted to
Lincoln's Inn on 14 March 1717 and was
called to the bar on 5 February 1735. He was a regular attender of meetings of the Council of the Bench, being appointed Master of the Walks in 1752, Keeper of the Black Book in 1753, Dean of Chapel in 1755, Treasurer in 1760 and Master of the Library in 1761.
Harper was also something of an
antiquarian, possessing a manuscript of
John Hooker John Hooker may refer to:
*John Hooker (English constitutionalist) (c. 1527–1601), English writer, solicitor, antiquary, civic administrator and advocate of republican government
*John Lee Hooker (1912–2001), American blues singer-songwriter an ...
's translation of the ‘Modus tenendi parliamentum’ and of Hooker's ‘The Order and Usage how to keep a Parliament in England’. He subscribed to the 1732 edition of
Bulstrode Whitelocke
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (6 August 1605 – 28 July 1675) was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Sir James Whitelocke and Elizabeth Bulstrode, and was ...
's ''Memorials of English affairs''. These works demonstrate a parliamentary bias in his interests.
Harper drafted a considerable number of parliamentary bills. During his most active years, 1732-1762, 458 out of 1,238 Private Acts of Parliament were drafted by Harper (37% of the total). Harper's library was sold in 1802 and the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
acquired ‘Private Acts of Parliament of George I, II and III. 62 vols’, which was Harper's law office library.
He died in 1772 and was buried at Lincoln's Inn. He had two sons: Robert (16 February 1729 - 1793) and Samuel (28 December 1732 - 1803). The ''Leeds Intelligencer'' remarked on his death that Harper was "deservedly supposed to have been one of the most able conveyancers in England for more than half this present century. He was deeply versed in the laws of his own country, and well acquainted with the history of the modern and ancient nations. His knowledge was great; but his humanity and good temper were above all the modes of expression".
[Lambert, p. 1.]
Notes
References
*Sheila Lambert, ''Bills and Acts. Legislative Procedure in Eighteenth-Century England'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971).
Further reading
*David Jervis, Richard Cheffins, Arthur Cunningham, ‘Parliamentary papers in the British Library’, in Dermot Englefield (ed.), ''Workings of Westminster'' (Dartmouth Publishing, 1991), pp. 163–180.
*D. L. Rydz, ''The Parliamentary Agents: A History'' (Royal Historical Society, 1979).
External links
Harper Collection of Private Bills
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Robert
1700s births
1772 deaths
English lawyers