Review of James Oldham, 'English Common Law in the Age of Mansfield' (Chapel Hill: The University of New Carolina Press, 2004) Pages I-XVIII, 1-426. ISBN 0 8078 5532 4

Abstract

In early 1788, as the First Fleet sailed on its mission to colonise New South Wales, it carried with it an invisible cargo: the laws of England. A large part of that cargo comprised the common law, the "unwritten law" derived by judges from English custom and tradition. As Arthur Phillip ordered the Union flag to be hoisted on a makeshift pole planted beside Sydney Cove on 26 January, back in London one of the greatest common law judges contemplated retirement. Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench since 1756, would eventually retire from office on 4 June 1788. The author of this book, James Oldham, makes two central claims.