of the common law, he might fairly be called the greatest. His mental power, his ability to grasp difficult points, to disentangle complicated facts, and to state the law clearly, have seldom been surpassed. No judgments delivered during this period are of greater service to the student of law than his". He was criticised for being too respectful of authority and unwilling to overturn precedent; John Coleridge accused him of being dedicated to the form of the law rather than the substance. The Common Law Procedure Acts 1854 and 1855 led to his resignation from the Exchequer in disgust, but his reputation was such that the government recalled him by granting him a life peerage, that of Baron Wensleydale, of Wensleydale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire on 16 January 1856. There was a question at the time of whether the letters patent, which granted him a peerage "for the term of his natural life", allowed him to sit in the House of Lords; it was eventually decided that they did not, and a second set was issued with the usual form for Baron Wensleydale, of Walton, in the County Palatine of Lancaster on 23 July 1856. This was irrelevant, since he had no sons able to take the peerage even if it was not a life appointment. He sat as part of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords until his death on 25 February 1868. Personal life In 1817 he married Cecilia, the daughter of Samuel F. Barlow of Middlethorpe, Yorkshire. They had three children who survived childhood, all daughters: Mary Parke (died 26 August 1843), an accomplished artist, married Charles Howard, a son of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle, and was the mother of the painter and arts patron George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle. Cecilia Anne Parke (died 20 April 1845), married Sir Matthew Ridley, 4th Baronet, and was the mother of Matthew Ridley, 5th Bnt (who was created Viscount Ridley and Baron Wensleydale in 1900). Charlotte Alice Parke (died 5 January 1908), married William Lowther, a grandson of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale. Arms References Bibliography |- 1782 births 1868 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Justices of the King's Bench Barons of the Exchequer Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Law lords Lawyers from Liverpool English legal writers Life peers created by Queen Victoria Members of the Privy Council