Samuel Hallifax (1733–1790)

Abstract

Trinity Hall, Cambridge was founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, for the study of canon law and civil law, as provided in its statutes. It later developed a direct connection with Doctors’ Commons in London, the College of Advocates practising in the church and admiralty courts. In the period 1512–1856, of the 462 admitted as advocates, 85 were from the Hall, including 15 masters and 45 fellows. From 1558 to 1857, the Hall had 9 out of about 25 Deans of Arches: two under Elizabeth, three at the end of the seventeenth century, three in the eighteenth century and one in the nineteenth. It has also provided more than 24 diocesan chancellors. As a result, within Cambridge University, Trinity Hall became the ‘nursery for civilians’, and the usual home for the Regius Professor of Civil Law. Among the first 12 of these (1540–1666), the Hall had 5. From 1666 to 1873, all of the next 12 holders were Trinity Hall by origin or adoption. Uniquely, all four of those holding this chair from 1757 to 1847 were clergy. These included Samuel Hallifax, Regius Professor of Civil Law 1770–1782. What follows deals with the life and career of Hallifax; his legal treatise An Analysis of the Roman Civil Law Compared with the Laws of England (with particular reference to its treatment of ecclesiastical law), its use and later editions; and the part played by it in a development which saw Trinity Hall become the centre for the new Civil Law classes (1816–1857), the forerunner of the modern Cambridge Law Tripos.