Queen Victoria Chair in English Law

The University archive contains the original correspondence relating to the gift. A letter from the Clerk of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster to the Principal of University College Liverpool announces “the Queen's approval of a gift of £2,000 to the College for such educational purposes as the College desires and the Queen approves…”.

The first holder of the chair was the noted legal historian Professor Edward Jenks. His biographer noted, “During his four years at Liverpool (1892–6), Jenks championed the cause of humanism in legal education against the view, which then prevailed among the leaders of the profession, that a solicitor was perfectly equipped if he had learned the technique of his trade. Jenks entered the fray with zest and…succeeded in attracting at least some students to subjects of intellectual interest but little immediate practical value, such as international and constitutional law and jurisprudence.” (Honoré, ODNB).

Subsequent holders of the Queen Victoria Chair in English Law also occupied other University positions, including the post of Dean of the Faculty of Law (e.g. Walter Lyon Blease) and University Public Orator (e.g. Walter Lyon Blease)

The subject specialisms of holders of the chair have varied over time. Queen Victoria chairs have researched and written on various legal subjects, including legal history, property law, insurance law, charity law, equity and trusts, Jewish law, comparative legal history, jurisprudence, and the legal rights of animals.

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