Sheldon Amos (1 June 1835 – 3 January 1886) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

Life and career

Sheldon Amos was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

, the son of lawyer

Andrew Amos The Reverend Andrew Amos MA (20 September 1863 – 2 October 1931) was an English amateur footballer who played for Cambridge University, Old Carthusians, Corinthian and Hitchin Town, as well as making two appearances for the England nationa ...

and his wife, Margaret. He was educated at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, and was called to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

as a member of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1862. He was invited by

F. D. Maurice John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War, interest in Maurice has expanded."Frede ...

to teach at The Working Men's College, with fellow Cambridge graduates and friends

Richard Chevenix Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (Richard Trench until 1873; 9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin write ...

and

J. R. Seeley Sir John Robert Seeley, KCMG (10 September 1834 – 13 January 1895) was an English Liberal historian and political essayist. A founder of British imperial history, he was a prominent advocate for the British Empire, promoting a concept of Grea ...

. J. F. C. Harrison, ''A History of the Working Men's College (1854–1954)'', Routledge Kegan Paul, 1954 In 1869 he was appointed to the chair of

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

in University College, London, and in 1872 became reader under the council of legal education and examiner in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

and history to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Failing health led to his resignation of those offices, and he took a voyage to the South Seas. He resided for a short time at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and finally settled in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, where he practised as an advocate. After the bombardment of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...

, and the reorganization of the Egyptian judicature, he was appointed judge of the court of appeal, but being without any previous experience of administrative work he found the strain too great for his health.

Death

He came to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

on leave in the autumn of 1885, and on his return to Egypt he died suddenly at Ramleh, near Alexandria, on 3 January 1886.

Family

His wife,

Sarah Amos Sarah Maclardie Amos born Sarah Maclardie Bunting (1840–1908) was a political activist. She was the superintendent of the Working Women's College in Queen Square, London. Life Amos was born in Manchester in 1840 to Eliza and Thomas Percival Bu ...

(the former Sarah Maclardie Bunting), took a prominent part in

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Nonconformist

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

and in movements connected with the position of

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

. The first meeting of what would become the

Women's Local Government Society The Women's Local Government Society was a British campaign group which aimed to get women into local government. Its initial focus was on county councils but its remit later covered other local government roles such as school boards. History The ...

was held at her house and included several of her relatives. The group was led by

Annie Leigh Browne Annie Leigh Browne (14 March 1851 – 8 March 1936) was a United Kingdom educationist and suffragist. She co-founded College Hall, London, and funded and worked to get women elected to local government. Life Browne was born in Bridgwater in 1851 ...

and it was deciding suitable women candidates for election. Sarah died at

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

on 21 January 1908. Their son was Sir Maurice Amos.

Publications

His principal publications are: *''Systematic View of the Science of Jurisprudence'' (1872) * ''Lectures on International Law'' (1873) * ''Science of Law'' (1874) * ''Science of Politics'' (1883) * ''History and Principles of the Civil Law of Rome as Aid to the Study of Scientific and Comparative Jurisprudence'' (1883)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amos, Sheldon 1835 births 1886 deaths English legal writers Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 19th-century English lawyers