Somerset v Stewart
Videos
Somerset v Stewart 98 ER 499 is a judgment of the English Court of King's Bench, relating to the right of a slave on English soil not to be forcibly removed from the country and sent to Jamaica for sa
Portrait of William Murray by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1737. As Lord Mansfield he sat in judgement on the case
Dido Elizabeth Belle with her cousin Elizabeth Murray, the great-nieces of Lord Mansfield, both were brought up in Kenwood House. Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray by David Martin, 1778
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield,, was a British barrister, politician and judge best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire into the Scottish nobility, he was edu
Somerset v Stewart
…being read out during the hearing, and has not survived; it is only known through third-party reports. According to one reported version of the case, Lord Mansfield decided that: The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive…
Portrait of William Murray by Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1737
Lady Elizabeth Finch (Later Countess of Mansfield) (left) and her sister Lady Henrietta, Duchess of Cleveland (right).
Murray circa 1737; portrait by John Giles Eccardt assistant of Jean-Baptiste van Loo.