Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden

rdf:langString Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden

rdf:langString The Lord Tenterden

rdf:langString The Lord Tenterden

rdf:langString Bloomsbury, Middlesex, England

rdf:langString Canterbury, Kent, England

rdf:langString Dexter a dragon wings elevated Vert gorged with a collar of roses and portcullises alternately and charged on the wing with a water bouget Or; sinister a pelican wings elevated Or vulned and gorged with a wreath of roses Gules.

rdf:langString Portrait by William Owen

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString Category:Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden

rdf:langString Labore

rdf:langString Law

rdf:langString Biography

rdf:langString Barrister, judge

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString Mary Lamotte

rdf:langString Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden PC SL (7 October 1762 – 4 November 1832), was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1818 and 1832. Born in obscure circumstances to a barber and his wife in Canterbury, Abbott was educated initially at a dame school before moving to The King's School, Canterbury in 1769. He was noted as an excellent student, receiving an exhibition scholarship from the school in March 1781, when he matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Here he was elected a fellow, and also served as a tutor to the son of Sir Francis Buller, which first made him consider becoming a barrister. He joined the Middle Temple in 1787, transferring to the Inner Temple in 1793, and was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1796. Abbott was noted as an excellent barrister, earning more than any other during his time at the Bar, despite being considered unimaginative and a poor speaker. He was offered a position as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1808, which he turned down; he accepted the same offer in 1816, receiving the customary knighthood and being appointed a Serjeant-at-Law. Three months after he started sitting as a judge he was transferred to the Court of King's Bench, where he was initially rather poor, being unfamiliar with the court's business. Within two years he showed "the highest judicial excellence", and when Lord Ellenborough had a stroke in 1818, Abbott was chosen to replace him as Lord Chief Justice. His reign at the head of the Court of King's Bench saw the court flourish, with strong justices and his own much-admired abilities. He was appointed to the peerage in 1827, sitting as Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden, and initially attended the House of Lords regularly. His opposition to the Reform Act 1832, which he claimed treated city corporations "with absolute contempt", led to his refusal to attend the Lords. Continuing to sit as Lord Chief Justice, Abbott gradually grew weaker, and finally fell ill halfway through a two-day trial. His disease baffled doctors, and he died on 4 November 1832 at his home in Queen Square, London.

rdf:langString A fox statant per pale Or and Argent charged on the shoulder with a water bouget Sable.

rdf:langString Purpure a pile wavy vairy Or and Gules in base two water bougets fesswise of the second on a canton Argent a crozier erect Azure.