SOMERS, JOHN SOMERS (or SOMMERS), BARON (1651 1716), English lord chancellor, was born on March 4, 1651, near Worcester, the eldest son of John Somers, an attorney, and of Catherine Ceaverne of Shropshire. Educated at Worcester and at Trinity College, Oxford, he studied law under Sir Francis Winnington, and soon became intimate with the leaders of the country party, especially with Essex, William Russell, and Alger non Sidney, but never entered into their plans so far as to commit himself beyond recall. He was reputed to have written the Just and Modest Vindication of the Two Last Parliaments, in answer to Charles II.'s declaration of his reasons for dissolving them. This, however, was by Sidney, though probably Somers was responsible for the final draft. As counsel for the sheriffs Pilking ton and Shute before the court of King's Bench, and junior counsel in the trial of the seven bishops, Somers won a reputation which was further enhanced by the part which he took in the secret councils which preceded the revolution. Elected to the Convention Parliament, he was appointed one of the managers for the Commons in the conferences between the houses, and was further distinguished by being made chairman of the com mittee which drew up the Declaration of Right.
In May 1689 Somers was made solicitor-general and knighted, and he now became William M.'s confidential adviser. In the controversy which arose between the Houses on the question of the legality of the decision of the court of King's Bench regarding Titus Oates, and of the action of the Lords in sustaining this decision, Somers was again the leading manager for the Commons, and has left a clear and interesting account of the debates. He was appointed chairman of the select committee of the House of Commons on the Corporation Bill (169o), by which those cor porations which had surrendered their charters to the Crown during the last two reigns were restored to their rights. On March 23, 1693, the great seal having meanwhile been in corn mission, Somers was appointed lord-keeper and a privy councillor. Somers now became the most prominent member of the Junto, the small council which comprised the chief members of the Whig party. When William left in May 1695 to take command of the army in the Netherlands, Somers was made one of the seven lords justices to whom the administration of the kingdom during his absence was entrusted; and he was instrumental in bringing about a reconciliation between William and the princess Anne.
In April 1697 Somers became lord chancellor, and was created a peer by the title of Baron Somers of Evesham. Somers had been free from attack at the hands of political opponents; but his connection in 1699 with Captain William Kidd, to the cost of whose expedition Somers had given ir,000, afforded an opportunity for a vote of censure, in the House of Commons which was rejected by 199 to 131. The attack was renewed shortly on the ground of his having accepted grants of Crown property to the amount of ii,6o0 a year, but was again defeated. On the subject of the Irish forfeitures a third attack was made in 1700, a motion being brought forward to request the king to remove Somers from his counsels; but this again was rejected by a large majority. In consequence, however, of the incessant agitation Somers was finally compelled to resign. In 1701 he was impeached by the Commons for his share in the negotiations relating to the Partition Treaty in 1698, and defended himself most ably before the house, answering the charges seriatim. The impeachment was voted and sent up to the Lords, but was there dismissed. On the death of the king Somers retired into private life, but he actively opposed the Occasional Conformity Bill (1702), and in 1706 was one of the managers of the union with Scotland. In the same year he carried a bill regulating and improving the proceedings of the law courts. He was made president of the council in 1708 upon the return of the Whigs to power, and retained the office until their downfall in 1710. He was also president of the Royal Society from He died on April 26, 1716. Somers wrote The History of the Succession of the Crown of England, as well as several poems and pamphlets.
For a contemporary character of Somers Addison's paper in the Freeholder for the 14th of May 1716 should be referred to ; and there is in Macaulay's History (iv. 53) an eloquent tribute to his character and comprehensive learning. A catalogue of his publica tions will be found in Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors.