Lord Mansfield and the Law Merchant: Law and Economics in the Eighteenth Century.

William Murray, also referred to as Lord Mansfield, was the first to gain distinction in the profession of law in England. Mansfield was born in 1705 at Perthshire, Scotland and received education at Westminster School and at Christ Church College, Oxford. He played a leading role in partisan politics. It is opined that by eighteenth century England had grown into the greatest manufacturing and commercial country in the world. However, her jurisprudence by no means had expanded or developed in the same proportion and the Parliament did not responded to the needs of a growing merchant class. Hence, when disputes arose about the buying and selling of goods, or marine insurance, or bills of exchange and promissory notes, no one knew how they were to be determined. The development of rules and practices for enforcing contracts and negotiable notes as a foundation upon which the men of business could build increasingly complex and long-term patterns of commitment with government guarantees of enforceability was entirely consistent with the "Law Merchant." Mansfield incorporated the "Law Merchant" as an integral part of the common law so as to make it an effective and available recourse for mercantile justice.