Charles Fearne

Charles Fearne (1742–1794) was an English jurist.

The son of Charles Fearne, judge-advocate of the admiralty, he was born in London, and was educated at Westminster School. His 1772 work, "Essay on the Learning of Contingent Remainders and Executory Devices", is deemed to have done "more than any other to preserve the Rule in Shelley's Case as black letter law (as distinguished from a rule of construction)."^[1]

Fearn adopted the legal profession, but, though well-fitted by his talents to succeed as a barrister, he neglected his profession and devoted most of his attention and his patrimony to the prosecution of scientific experiments, with the vain hope of achieving discoveries which would reward him for his pains and expense. His Essay on the Learning of Contingent Remainders and Executory Devises, the work which has made his reputation as a legal authority, and which has passed through numerous editions, was called forth by a decision of Lord Mansfield in the case of Perrin v. Blake, and had the effect of reversing that decision.

He died in 1794, leaving his widow and family in necessitous circumstances. A volume entitled Fearne's Posthumous Works was published by subscription in 1797 for the benefit of his widow.

References

• ^ Division Four Library Courtroom Biographies, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. URL accessed December 31, 2005.
• "The posthumous works of Charles Fearne...", on WorldCatLibraries.

Further reading

• Fearne, Charles. The posthumous works of Charles Fearne, Esquire, barrister at law : consisting of a reading of the statute of inrolments, arguments in the singular case of General Stanwix, and a collection of cases and opinions, compiled by Thomas Mitchell Shadwell, London: A. Strahan for J. Butterworth, 1797.

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 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Persondata
Name	Fearne, Charles
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Date of birth	1742
Place of birth
Date of death	1794
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