| Authorised form of name | Dwarris; Sir; Fortunatus William Lilley (1786 - 1860); lawyer |
| Dates | 1786 - 1860 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America |
| Date of birth | 23 October 1786 |
| Place of death | 75 Eccleston Square, London, Greater London, United Kingdom |
| Date of death | 20 May 1860 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
Brookwood cemetery, Woking, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Lawyer; plantation and slave owner; colonial official |
| Research field | Law |
| Archaeology |
| Antiquities |
| Literature |
| Activity | Education:
Rugby School (1801); University College Oxford, BA (1808); Middle Temple, legal bar (1811)
Career:
Commissioner on the inquiry into the state of the law in the colonies in the West Indies (1822); member of the commission for the examination of municipal corporations; Master of the Court of Queen's Bench (by 1847); Recorder of Newcastle under Lyme (by 1847); Counsel to the Board of Health; bencher of the Middle Temple, Treasurer of the Middle Temple (1839)
Honours:
Kt 1838
Memberships:
FSA; British Archaeological Association (VP)
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 22/04/1847 |
| Age at election | 60 |
| Relationships | Married Alicia, daughter of Robert Brereton on 28 February 1811; benefited from the patronage of the politician and plantation owner Henry Goulburn |
| Published works | 'A General Treatise on Statutes, their rules of construction and the proper boundaries of legislation and of judicial interpretation', 1839-31;
'Alberic, Consul of Rome, a Tragedy', 1832 |
| General context | Dwarris worked as a barrister and was called to the bar at Middle Temple on 28 June 1811. On election to the Royal Society Dwarris was recognised for his legal expertise as well as literary publications and interest in archaelology. He was a constitutional lawyer, served on municipal commissions, and authored a widely used legal text on the history of statute law 'General Treatise on Statutes' (2 vols., 1830-31).
In 1822, prior to his election to the Royal Society (1847), Dwarris served as a commissioner on the inquiry into the state of law in the colonies in the West Indies which examined the treatment of enslaved people by the judicial system, this was also recognised as a factor in electing him a Fellow. Dwarris was the author of three reports by the Commission in which he critiscized legal irregularities and advocated for equality under the law. He was not an abolitionist, he supported only a gradual process of emancipation along with the compensation of enslavers of emanicpated people. He was an enslaver himself with family property in Jamaica that used enslaved people for labour and he received compensation following emancipation in 1836. |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; UCL LBS
References:
'Sir Fortunatus William Lilley Dwarris', Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, http://wwwdepts-live.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/43211 [accessed 16th June 2020]. |
| Royal Society code | NA797 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EC/1847/15 | Dwarris, Sir Fortunatus William Lilley: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |