Sir Julius Caesar (1557/155818 April 1636) was an English lawyer, judge and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1589 and 1622. He was also known as Julius Adelmare.

Early life and education

Caesar was born near

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

, the son of

Cesare Adelmare Cesare Adelmare (died 1569) was a physician to Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I of Italian origin. He was also known by various other spellings, his first name often Anglicized to Caesar, and his surname given forms such as Dalmariis, Dalmare, and ...

who was originally from

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, Italy, and his wife Margery Perient or Pirry (died c. 1583).Caesar, Julius (1558–1636), of Tottenham, Middlesex and Mitcham, Surrey, History of Parliament
Retrieved 12 November 2013. Cesare Adelmare, like many of his ancestors, studied at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

, where he was made doctor in 1547. He was registered as a doctor in his native Treviso in 1542. In England in 1544 he was found to be working unlicensed and then licensed. He was naturalised in 1558, and was a physician to Queens

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...

and

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. Cesare's father Pietro Maria Adelmare was also a graduate of Padua, and was a judge and ambassador for Treviso. His mother, Paola Cesarini, was said to be descended from the well-known Cesarini family of Rome. Julius was baptised in the Church of St. Dunstan's-in-the-East in February 1558, his sponsors being the

Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...

William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester (c. 1483/1485 – 10 March 1572), styled Lord St John between 1539 and 1550 and Earl of Wiltshire between 1550 and 1551, was an English Lord High Treasurer, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and statesma ...

; the Earl of Arundel; and Lady Montagu representing the queen. After his father's death, his mother married, as her second husband,

Michael Lok Michael Lok, also Michael Locke, (c.1532 – c.1621) was an English merchant and traveller, and the principal backer of Sir Martin Frobisher's voyages in search of the Northwest Passage. Family Michael Lok was born in Cheapside in London, by his ...

. He was possibly educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

and matriculated at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, on 10 January 1575, aged 16, and was awarded BA on 17 May 1575 and MA on 18 February 1578. He then studied at the

Faculty of Law of Paris The Faculty of Law of Paris (french: Faculté de droit de Paris), called from the late 1950s to 1970 the Faculty of Law and Economics of Paris, is the second-oldest faculty of law in the world and one of the four and eventually five faculties ...

(

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

), where he was made LLB and LLD on 22 April 1581."Alumni Oxonienses, 1500–1714: Cabell-Chafe"
Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 228–254. Date accessed: 1 November 2021

Career

Caesar was noted for his persistent striving for advancement and for financial reward in the time of Queen Elizabeth. He was a general commissioner on piracy in October 1581. In 1583 he was counsel to the City of London and commissary of his friend John Aylmer, the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

in Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Essex. On 5 March 1584 he was awarded a law degree at Oxford, and became doctor of

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. In 1584, he was appointed

Judge of the High Court of Admiralty The Judge of the High Court of Admiralty was established in 1483 he was the chief law officer of the High Court of Admiralty. The office holder was supported by various officials and existed until 1875. History The High Court of Admiralty was ...

until 1605, and was an advocate of

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buil ...

in 1586. In 1588 he became a master in chancery. He was elected MP for

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

in 1589. He became

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1590 and was

Master of Requests Master of Requests, from the Latin Requestarum Magister, is an office that developed in several European systems of law and government in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Holders of the title had the responsibility of presenting pe ...

Extraordinary of

Court of Requests The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor an ...

in 1591. He became JP from 1592 and was governor of mineral and battery works in 1593. Also in 1593 he was elected MP for

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gr ...

. He was treasurer of the Inner Temple in 1593. He became Master of Requests Ordinary of Court of Requests in 1595 and Master of St Katherine's Hospital in 1596. In 1597 he was elected MP for Windsor and was re-elected MP for Windsor in 1601. Queen Elizabeth, on her way to

Nonsuch Palace Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, built by Henry VIII in Surrey, England; it stood from 1538 to 1682–83. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundaries of the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey and the London Borou ...

, paid him a visit at his house at

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. I ...

on 12 September 1598. She spent the night of the 12th there, and dined with him the next day. In the reign of King James, Caesar acquired extensive property, particularly in Hertfordshire, and achieved greater influence and political importance. He was knighted at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

by King James in May 1603. He also became ecclesiastical commissioner for the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

in 1603. In 1606 he was elected MP for

. He was Chancellor and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer from 1606 to 1614. In 1607 he was appointed to the Privy Council. In 1614 he was appointed

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

, an office which he held till his death in 1636. He was re-elected MP for Middlesex in 1614. In 1621 he became first commissioner for the great seal and was elected MP for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced i ...

. He was commissioner to inquire into operation of the poor law from 1631 to 1633.

Death

Caesar died at the age of 79 and was buried at Great St. Helen's, Bishopsgate.

Legacy

Caesar was a remarkable civil servant and left many volumes of papers relating to his official work, and others relating to the mint, of which his first father-in-law was master. He worked on the history of the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government rev ...

, and presented to Burghley a history of the

"to defend it against the slights of the common lawyers". In 1625 he wrote a treatise on the constitution and functions of the privy council, entitled ''Concerning the Private Council of the Most High and Mighty King of Great Britain, France, Scotland, and Ireland''. His manuscripts, many of which are now in 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 ...

, were sold by auction in 1757 for a sum of around £500.

Personal life

Caesar married three times. He married firstly Dorcas Lusher (1561 – 16 June 1595), widow of Richard Lusher 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 ...

and daughter of Sir Richard Martin,

master of the mint Master of the Mint is a title within the Royal Mint given to the most senior person responsible for its operation. It was an important office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, between ...

and later

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. He married secondly on 10 April 1596 Alice Dent (June 1569 – 23 May 1614), widow of John Dent, Alderman of London, and daughter of Christopher Grant of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Lancashire, with whom he had three more sons. A portrait of Alice when pregnant dated 1597 gives her age as 31. He married thirdly Anne Hogan, widow of Henry Hogan and William Hungate, both of East Bradenham, Norfolk, and daughter of Henry Woodhouse of

Waxham Waxham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sea Palling, in the North Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England. It lies on the north-east coast of the county. Buildings in the village include Waxham Hall, the 1 ...

, Norfolk on 19 April 1615. His third wife Anne was a granddaughter of Nicholas Bacon.

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

, his wife's uncle, died in his arms. His son, also named Julius Caesar (14 February 1587 – 8 January 1607), was sent to study at the

. He was wounded while fencing with Antonia Brochetta and sought revenge. He lay in wait for him with a pistol, but his shot missed. He then fell while attempting to draw his sword and was set upon by Brochetta who ran him through and killed him. His son Sir

Charles Caesar Sir Charles Caesar (27 January 1590 – 6 December 1642), of Benington in Hertfordshire, was an English judge who served as Master of the Rolls in the period leading up to the outbreak of the English Civil War; his father, Sir Julius Caesar ...

(27 January 1590 – 6 December 1642) was a member of Parliament, as well as Master of the Rolls from 1639 to 1642, which he purchased for £15,000 and a £2,000 loan. His son Sir John Caesar (20 October 1597 – 23 May 1647) of Hyde Hall, Hertfordshire, a country gentleman, was knighted in Scotland on 20 June 1617. His son Thomas Caesar D.D. (17 March 1601 – 1633) was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Llanrhuddlad Llanrhuddlad is a village in the community of Cylch-y-Garn, Anglesey, Wales, from Holyhead, from Cardiff and from London. Geography Llyn (lake) Llygeirian, to the south-east, abounds in flora and fringing marshland. The Isle of Anglesey Coast ...

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a Local government in Wales, principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strai ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

of whom a memorial graces the chancel of

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

parish church, Anglesey. His son Robert Caesar (9 October 1602 – 27 October 1637) was one of the

Six Clerks The Six Clerks' Office was a public legal office that served the equitable jurisdiction of the English Court of Chancery in London, England, until the mid-19th century. The Office The Office was in Chancery Lane, near the Holborn end. The business ...

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

and a member of Parliament.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar, Julius 1550s births 1636 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford University of Paris alumni Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Chancellors of the Exchequer of England Masters of the Rolls English people of Italian descent People from Treviso 17th-century English judges 16th-century English judges English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 Canon law jurists Members of the Privy Council of England People from Tottenham Julius Members of Parliament for Maldon Kingdom of England expatriates in France