Sir Edmund Anderson (15301 August 1605), Chief Justice of the Common Pleas under Elizabeth I, sat as judge at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Life The Anderson family originated in Scotland and then came to Northumberland. They settled in Lincolnshire in the 14th century and became a prominent family there. Sir Edmund Anderson, son of Edward Anderson, was born in Flixborough in Lincolnshire c. 1530. He received the first part of his education in the country and then spent a brief period at Lincoln College, Oxford, before entering the Inner Temple in June 1550. He is recorded to have matriculated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1549. In 1577, Anderson was created Serjeant-at-Law and in 1578 he was appointed Queen's Sergeant. In 1581 he was appointed Justice of Assize on the Norfolk circuit and tried Edmund Campion and others for high treason in November 1581, securing an unexpected conviction. This set the pattern for the rest of his career: as a judge, he was notorious for severity to Catholics and non-conformists, markedly so in the cases of John Perrot and John Udall, the puritan minister. On the back of that success, Anderson was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1582 and was knighted. He was reappointed by James I and held office until his death. Throughout his career he played a prominent role in some of the most important political trials of Elizabeth's reign including that of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Sir Edmund also presided over the trial of William Davison, the Queen's secretary who was accused of erroneously issuing the warrant for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1588 he was sent to Ireland, where he headed a judicial commission to deal with the flood of litigation which followed the forfeiture of the lands of the Earl of Desmond. Its findings were something of a foregone conclusion, since the judges had instructions to find in favour of the English Crown in all disputed cases, and duly did so. This however was untypical, as in civil cases he usually went to great lengths to be impartial. Anderson died on 1 August 1605 at Eyeworth in Bedfordshire. Assessments Anderson was often described as a strict lawyer who was "completely governed by the law". He even stated at an important trial that, "I sit here to judge of law, not logic". Yet