Frederic William Maitland was born in London in 1850 to a professional family; his father was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and secretary to the Civil Service Commission, his grandfather a noted historian, lawyer and clergyman. Maitland himself started in law, but turned to reading history. His career really began upon his receipt of a readership at Cambridge University in 1884; he rose quickly to become Professor of the Laws of England at Downing College in 1888. As an assiduous publisher of legal records and constitutional documents, he provided the basis for all subsequent scholarship, but it is for his The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I (with F. Pollock; 1895), which provided a new grounding for …
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Citation: Nixon, Mark. "Frederic William Maitland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4982, accessed 25 November 2024.]
