John Bruce Williamson

John Bruce Williamson KC^[1] (1859–1938) was a British barrister and historical author.

Life

Williamson was born on 28 January 1859.^[2] The son of John Williamson of Glasgow, he matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford on 29 January 1881, graduating B.A. in 1885.^[3]

In 1887 Williamson was called to the bar at the Middle Temple.^[3] He was appointed secretary to the University of Durham Commissioners constituted under the University of Durham Act 1908 by warrant under the royal sign manual dated 27 October 1908.^[4] He was elected to serve on the General Council of the Bar in February 1911^[5] and again in 1913.^[6] He became a bencher of the Middle Temple in 1925.^[1]

Williamson died on 7 July 1938.^[7] The National Portrait Gallery has a photograph of him taken in 1936 by Olive Edis.^[8]

Works

Williamson was the author of:

• The Foreign Commerce of England Under the Tudors: The Stanhope Essay for 1883 (B H Blackwell, Oxford, 1883)^[9][10]
• The Law of Licensing in England (1st Ed: 1898,^[11] 2nd Ed: 1902,^[12] 3rd Ed: 1905, 4th Ed: 1911). Sometimes called Williamson's Law of Licensing. The first three editions were published by William Clowes & Sons Limited, the fourth was published by Stevens & Sons (Limited). The "standard book" of its day on its subject.^[13][14]
• The Palatine Court of Durham Act, 1889 (Beavis, Stewart & Co; Newcastle; 1890)^[15] Also called Bruce Williamson on Palatine Court.^[16]
• Memorials of John Bruce, Schoolmaster in Newcastle upon Tyne and of Mary Bruce, His Wife (Newcastle, 1903) (aka Memorials of John and Mary Bruce; Memorials of John Bruce)
• The History of the Temple, London, from the institution of the order of the Knights of the Temple to the close of the Stuart period (J Murray, London, 1st Ed: 1924, 2nd Ed: 1925; both editions reprinted by Gaunt, Holmes Beach, 1998)^[17] Baker calls this book "excellent"^[18]
• Roll of Honour (1925)
• Drawings of the Inns of Court and Chancery made probably in the first half of the Eighteenth Century (London Topographical Society, Publication No 59, 1928)
• Middle Temple Hall: Notes upon its History (Printed for Society of the Middle Temple by Chancery Lane Press, London, 1st Ed: 1928, 2nd revised Ed: 1934)^[19]
• Catalogue of Silver Plate: The property of the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple (Bonner, London, 1930) Also known as "Silver plate of the Middle Temple", which appears on the cover.^[20]
• The Practice of the Law in England (London, 1930)
• Catalogue of the Paintings and Engravings in the Possession of the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple (Society of the Middle Temple, London, 1931)^[21]
• Notes on the Middle Temple in the Nineteenth Century, chiefly with reference to the Buildings of the Inn (Bonner & Co, London, 1936)
• Sir Walter Raleigh and His Trial (Pitman, London, 1936)^[22] Autumn Reader of the Middle Temple (Lector Autumnalis) for 1935.^[23]
• Volume 1 of the Second Edition of "The Middle Temple Bench Book" (1937)^[24][25]

Williamson was joint author with Roger William Wallace QC^[26] of:

• The Law and Practice Relating to Letters Patent for Inventions (Wallace and Williams on Patents for Inventions) (W Clowes and Sons Limited, 1900)^[27] Reprinted in "nineteenth century legal treatises" microform series by Research Publications, Woodbridge.^[28]

References

• "Obituary" (1938) 186 Law Times 58; see also p 209 Google Books
• "Obituary" (1938) 86 Law Journal 53; see also p 89 Google Books
• "Obituary" (1938) 82 Solicitors Journal 586 Google Books
• "Obituary" (1938) 102 Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review 468 Google Books
• Sir Ivo d'Oyle Elliot. "Williamson, John Bruce". The Balliol College Register. Second Edition. Printed by John Johnson at the University Press. 1934. p 129. Google Books
• Edward Hilliard. "Williamson, John Bruce". The Balliol College Register 1832–1914. Printed for by H Hart at the University Press. Page 371. [59] Google Books
• Joseph Foster. "Williamson, John Bruce". Oxford Men and their Colleges. James Parker & Co. London and Oxford. 1893. Page 659
• (1887) 31 Solicitors' Journal and Reporter 206 Google Books (call to the bar)
• Royal Blue Book: Court and Parliamentary Guide. January 1908. Page 1495. Google Books
• Edward Lindsay Carson Mullins. Guide to the Historical and Archaeological Publications of Societies in England and Wales, 1901–1933. Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Athlone Press. 1968. Article 3135 at p 241. Also pp 654 and 848. Google Books
• Art and Architecture Book Guide: 1974. G K Hall & Co. Article 2474 at p 170 and p 353. Google Books
• (1965) 3 Selden Society, Supplementary Series 28 Google Books
• Williamson, John Bruce 1859-. WorldCat Identities.
• Walter Cecil Richardson. A History of the Inns of Court: With Special Reference to the Period of the Renaissance. Claitor's Publishing Division. 1975. p 55 & 56. Google Books

1. (1925) 69 Solicitors' Journal and Weekly Reporter 561 (16 May) Google Books
2. Sir Ivo d'Oyle Elliot. "Williamson, John Bruce". The Balliol College Register. Second Edition. Printed by John Johnson at the University Press. 1934. p 129. Google Books
3. Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Williamson, John Bruce" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
4. (1908) 42 Weekly Notes 317 [1]; (1908) 126 Law Times 19 [2] (7 November)
5. "General Council of the Bar" 46 Law Journal 108 (18 February) ("election held last week") [3]
6. "Bar Council Election, 1913" (1913) 57 Solicitors Journal and Weekly Reporter 288 (15 February) [4]; "Election Result, 1913" in "General Council of the Bar" (1913) 48 Weekly Notes 122, see also "General Council of the Bar" at p 105 [5]. See also (1914) 138 Law Times 173 and 181 (19 December)
7. "Obituary" (1938) 102 Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review 468 Google Books
8. NPG x16347 John Bruce Williamson. National Portrait Gallery.
9. Snippet view from Google Books
10. (1883) 13 Oxford University Gazette 567 Google Books
11. Digitised copy from Internet Archive. Snippet view from Google Books
12. Published in London
13. (1968) 132 Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review 233 Google Books
14. For reviews of the first edition of this book, see (1898) 33 Law Journal 290 (4 June) [6]; "Law Library" (1898) 105 Law Times 128 (11 June) [7]; (1898) 42 Solicitors Journal 551 [8] [9]. For reviews of the second edition of this book, see (1903) 19 Law Quarterly Review 110 [10]; "Reviews: Licensing" (1903) 47 Solicitors Journal 142 [11]; "Law Library" (1903) 114 Law Times 151 [12]; (1903) 37 Law Journal 611 Google Books. For reviews of the third edition of this book, see (1905) 21 Law Quarterly Review 320 [13]; (1905) 69 Justice of the Peace 102 [14]; "The Licensing Act" in "Reviews" (1906) 40 Law Journal 64 [15]; "Licensing Law" (1905) 49 Solicitors Journal and Reporter 235 [16]. For reviews of the fourth edition of this book, see "Reviews" (1911) 55 Solicitors' Journal and Weekly Reporter 343 and also "Books of the Week" in "Reviews" on p 166 [17]; (1911) 27 Law Quarterly Review 370 [18]. For other commentary on this book, see Jelf, Where to Find Your Law, 3rd Ed, Cox, 1907, p 291 [19]; [1913] 2 KB 431 (where the book is cited with approval) [20][21][22]; Frethy v O'Driscoll (1902) 4 Gazette Law Reports 303 at 306 [23] [24]; (1911) 130 Law Times 227 [25]
15. For reviews of this book, see "The Palatine Court of Durham" (1890) 34 Solicitors Journal and Reporter 543 [26] [27]; (1890) 88 Law Times 278 [28]; "Literary Notices" (1890) 9 Durham University Journal 32 (8 March) [29].
16. Halsbury's Statutes, 1st Ed, 1929, vol 4, p 129 Google Books
17. For reviews of this book, see 41 Law Quarterly Review 225; "Book Reviews" (1925) 34 Yale Law Journal 566 [30]; "The Temple" (1924) 59 Law Journal 514 [31]; "Book Reviews" (1926) 39 Harvard Law Review 136 [32]; (1925) 3 Literary Digest International Book Review 219 [33]. For other commentary see WSH; Julius J Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University, New York University Law Library, 1953 p 185; Samuel Schoenbaum, Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama, Northwestern University Press, 1966, p ii, para 17 [34]; The New York Times Book Review Index 1896-1930, vol 1 (author index), p 1331 [35]; The Bookman, 1924, vols 66-67, p 45 [36]; (1944) 282-283 Quarterly Review 420 [37].
18. John Baker. Collected Papers on English Legal History. CUP. 2013. p 310.
19. For reviews of this book, see (1928) 166 Law Times 340 [38]; Times Literary Supplement, 6 December 1928, p 971, reprinted at (1928) 12 Chicago Bar Association Record 236 [39]. For other commentary see, (1930) 46 Scottish Law Review and Sheriff Court Reports 289 ("admirable") [40]
20. For commentary on this book, see (1992) 23 Law Librarian 89 (No 2, June) [41]
21. For a review of this book, see (1931) 172 Law Times 99 (1 August)
22. Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature, CUP, 1936, vol 27, p 150, para 2501
23. For reviews of this book and reading, see "Sir Walter Raleigh and the Middle Temple" (1935) 180 Law Times 371 [42]; "Sir Walter Raleigh and His Trial" in "General Intelligence" (1936) 182 Law Times 393 [43]; (1936) 55 Law Notes 94 [44]
24. The first edition of "The Middle Temple Bench Book" by Arthur Robert Ingpen (biography in A & C Black's Who Was Who) was published in 1912. Volume 2 of the second edition by Harold Willis was published in 1982. The Supplement to the second edition was published in 1958.
25. For a review of this volume, see (1938) 54 Scottish Law Review and Sheriff Court Reports 207 [45]
26. Wallace, Roger William; "Obituary" (1926) 15 Chemical Age 592 [46]; "Obituary" (1926) 162 Law Times 507 [47]. Men at the Bar. Also has biography in A & C Black's Who Was Who.
27. Roger William Wallace, John Bruce Williamson. The Law and Practice Relating to Letters Patent for Inventions. W Clowes and Sons Limited. 1900. Digitised copy from Internet Archive. Google Books.
28. For reviews of this book, see "Wallace and Williams on Patents for Inventions" in "Reviews" (1901) 35 Law Journal 490 [48]; "Reviews" (1901) 26 Law Magazine and Review (Fifth Series) 112 [49] [50]; (1900) 45 The Electrician 893 [51] [52]; "Review" (1900) 47 Electrical Review 390, and see also p 510 [53]; (1900) 2 Athenæum 375 [54] [55] [56] [57]; "The Law Relating to Patents" (1900) 85 The Spectator 381 (22 September 1900) [58].