Sir William Stanford (1509 – 1558), also writtenStamford orStaunford, was an English politician, judge and jurist.[1]
Born on or by 22 August 1509 atMonken Hadley inMiddlesex, he was the second son of William Stanford, amercer (textile dealer) in theCity of London, and his wife Margaret Gedney. His father was a younger son of Robert Stanford, ofRowley Regis inStaffordshire.[1]
After some time at theUniversity of Oxford, he then studied law, enteringGray's Inn in 1528 and beingcalled to the bar in 1536. At Gray's Inn, he was chosenReader in 1544 and 1551.[1]
By 1542, with a powerful friend at court in SirThomas Wriothesley and being owed money byHenry Stafford, he was electedMP forStafford in the 1542 and 1545 Parliaments, and forNewcastle-under-Lyme in the 1547 Parliament. Though based in Middlesex, he developed Staffordshire links by buying themanors ofPerry Barr and Handsworth.[1]
From 1542 to 1555, he was appointed to many royal commissions, some ranging over all England and Wales and some limited to Middlesex. In 1543 he was made ajustice of the peace for Middlesex, later sitting on the bench for Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire.[1]
Made aserjeant-at-law in 1552, QueenMary I promoted him toQueen's Serjeant in 1553. Next year, though his prosecution of SirNicholas Throckmorton for treason was unsuccessful (with Throckmorton praising him for his erudition and honesty), he was appointed a justice of theCourt of Common Pleas and wasknighted the following year. Though aCatholic, he is reported to have treatedProtestants fairly.[1]
He made his will on 4 April 1558 and died at Monken Hadley on 28 August, leaving his wife as executrix and his eldest son as heir.[1]
He is said to have prepared the first printed edition ofGlanvill'sTractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie and in 1557 published the first textbook of English criminal law;Les Plees del Coron. In 1567 hisAn Exposicion of the Kinges Prerogative (which he wrote in 1548) was published.[1]William Fulbecke wrote inA Direction or Preparative to the Study of the Law (1600):
In Master Staunford there is force and weight, and no common kind of stile; in matter none hath gone beyonde him, in method, none hath overtaken him; in the order of his writing hee is smoothe, yet sharpe, pleasant, but yet grave; famous both for Judgement in matters of his profession, and for his great skill in forraigne learning, And surely his method may be a Law to the writers of the Law which succeed him.[2]
In historic legal citations, Stanford's name is abbreviated "Stamf.", "Stanf.", or "Staunf.".Les Plees del Coron received the abbreviation "P.C." or "Plc", so the work is cited as "Stamf. P.C.", or similar.[3][4]
He married Alice, daughter of John Palmer (died 1542), ofKentish Town and his wifeEleanor (died 1558), daughter ofEdward Cheeseman and sister ofRobert Cheeseman. They are recorded as having six sons and five daughters,[1] including:
His widow Alice later married Roger Carew, MP forSt Albans in 1563,[1] and died in 1573.
