James Dyer

For other people named James Dyer, see James Dyer (disambiguation).

Sir James Dyer, 1575. National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sir James Dyer (1510–1582) was a judge and Speaker of the House of Commons during the reign of Edward VI of England.

Life

Dyer was knighted at Whitehall on 9 April 1553, Strand Inn, preparatory 1520s, Middle Temple abt. 1530, called to the bar 1537?, bencher 1540s, serjeant-at-law 17 Oct. 1552, MP for Wells, in Somerset, and knight of the shire for Cambridgeshire 1547 and 1553, speaker of the house of commons 1553, justice of the peace for Cambridgeshire 1547, judge of the court of common pleas 1557, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from January 1559 until his death.

Reputation

"A judge of profound knowledge and judgment in the laws of the land, and principally in the form of good pleading and true entries of judgments, and of great piety and sincerity, who in his heart abhorred all corruption and deceit; of a bountiful and generous disposition, a patron and preferrer of men learned in the law and expert clerks; of singular assiduity and observation, as appears by his book of reports, all written with his own hand, and of a fine, reverend and venerable countenance and personage." (Coke, 9.14v–15)

References

• (Subscription or UK public library membership required.). The first edition of this text is available as an article on Wikisource:  
• Edward Foss, Lives of the Judges

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Anthony Browne	Chief Justice of the Common Pleas 1559–1582	Succeeded by Sir Edmund Anderson