Medieval Welsh Law and the Mid-Victorian Foreshore
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In: Journal of Legal History, Vol. 35, No. 2, 07.2014, p. 172-199.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Medieval Welsh Law and the Mid-Victorian Foreshore
AU - Pryce, Huw
AU - Owen, Gwilym
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - In 1862 a text of medieval Welsh law, attributed to the tenth-century king Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good), was cited as part of the defence in a case, Attorney General v Jones, concerning disputed foreshore rights in Anglesey, north Wales. This article aims to explain why and how Welsh law, effectively abolished by the Acts of Union of 1536–43, was deployed as evidence in the case and how far this marked a readiness to accommodate the distinctive legal heritage of Wales within the framework of the nineteenth-century common law. As well as analysing the legal arguments presented, the article seeks to assess the broader significance of the case by setting it in the contexts of the Crown's increasingly vigorous claims to foreshores, the circumstances and attitudes of the real defendant, William Bulkeley Hughes, and antiquarian study of the medieval Welsh law-texts, including their use in previous mid-Victorian foreshore disputes.
AB - In 1862 a text of medieval Welsh law, attributed to the tenth-century king Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good), was cited as part of the defence in a case, Attorney General v Jones, concerning disputed foreshore rights in Anglesey, north Wales. This article aims to explain why and how Welsh law, effectively abolished by the Acts of Union of 1536–43, was deployed as evidence in the case and how far this marked a readiness to accommodate the distinctive legal heritage of Wales within the framework of the nineteenth-century common law. As well as analysing the legal arguments presented, the article seeks to assess the broader significance of the case by setting it in the contexts of the Crown's increasingly vigorous claims to foreshores, the circumstances and attitudes of the real defendant, William Bulkeley Hughes, and antiquarian study of the medieval Welsh law-texts, including their use in previous mid-Victorian foreshore disputes.
U2 - 10.1080/01440365.2014.925179
DO - 10.1080/01440365.2014.925179
M3 - Article
VL - 35
SP - 172
EP - 199
JO - Journal of Legal History
JF - Journal of Legal History
SN - 0144-0365
IS - 2
ER -