STOWELL, WILLIAM SCOTT, BARON English judge and jurist, was born at Heworth, near Newcastle, on Oct. 17, the son of a "coalfitter" (or tradesman engaged in the transport of coal). His younger brother John became the famous Lord Chancellor Eldon. Scott was educated at the New castle grammar school and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 1774 he was Camden reader of ancient history, and in 1779 he graduated as doctor of civil law and, after the customary "year of silence," commenced practice in the ecclesiastical courts. His professional success was rapid. In 1783 he became registrar of the court of faculties; in 1788 judge of the consistory court and advocate-general; and in 1798 he was made judge of the high court of admiralty. Sir William Scott twice contested Oxford University—in 178o without success, but successfully in 18o1. He also sat for Downton in 17,9o. Upon the coronation of George Iv. (1821) he was raised to the peerage as Baron Stowell. Lord Stowell retired from the bench—from the consistory court in August 1821, and from the high court of admiralty in December 1827. He died on Jan. 28, 1836. Lord Stowell was twice married —in 1781 to Anna Maria, eldest daughter of John Bagnall of Early Court, Berks., and in 1813 to the dowager marchioness of Sligo. The doctrines of international law with the assertion and illustration of which the name of Lord Stowell is identified are these : the perfect equality and entire independence of all states ("Le Louis," 2 Dod. 243)—a logical deduction from the Austinian philosophy and still one of the fundamental principles of English jurisprudence; that the elementary rules of international law bind even semi-barbarous states (the "Hurtige Hane," 2 Rob. 325);
that blockade to be binding must be effectual (the "Betsey," I Rob. 93) ; and that contraband of war is to be determined by "probable destination" (the "Jonge Margaretha," I Rob. 189).
In the famous Swedish convoy case (the "Maria," I Rob. 35o; see, too, the "Recovery," 6 C. Rob. 348-9) Lord Stowell asserted that "a prize court is a court not merely of the country in which it sits but of the law of nations." "The seat of judicial authority," he added, in words which have become classic, "is indeed locally here, in the belligerent country, but the law itself has no locality." His dictum concerning the right of a belligerent to sink a neutral ship, when unable to take her before a prize court, was much quoted in 1904 in reference to the sinking of the "Knight Commander" by the Russians in the Far East.
The judgments of Lord Stowell were, almost without exception, confirmed on appeal, and they are to this day the international law of England, and have become presumptive though not con clusive evidence of the international law of America. "I have taken care," wrote Justice Story, "that they shall form the basis of the maritime law of the United States, and I have no hesita tion in saying that they ought to do so in that of every civilized country in the world." See W. C. Townsend, Lives of Twelve Eminent Judges, vol. ii. (2 vols., 1846) ; W. E. Surtees, Sketch of the Lives of Lords Stowell and Eldon (5846) ; E. S. Creasy, First Platform of International Law: Reports of Prize Cases from :745 to :859 (1876 ; new ed. E. S. Roscoe, 2 vols., 1995), contains the most important of Stowell's judg ments.