John Doddridge
John Dodderidge | |
|---|---|
Sir John Doddridge (1555–1628), Justice of the King's Bench, wearing his judicial robes. National Portrait Gallery. | |
| Member of Parliament for Horsham | |
| In office 1603-1611 | |
| Member of Parliament for Barnstaple | |
| In office 1588-? | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1555 |
| Died | 13 September 1628 (aged 72–73) Egham, Surrey, England |
| Spouse(s) | Joan Jermyn Dorothy Bampfield Anne Culme |
| Relatives | Pentecost Dodderidge (brother) |
| Education | Exeter College, Oxford |
Sir John Doddridge (akas: Doderidge or Dodderidge; 1555–1628) was an English lawyer, appointed Justice of the King's Bench in 1612 and served as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1589 and for Horsham in 1604. He was also an antiquarian and writer. He acquired the nickname "the sleeping judge" from his habit of shutting his eyes while listening intently to a case. As a lawyer he was influenced by humanist ideas, and was familiar with the ideas of Aristotle, and the debates of the period between his followers and the Ramists. He was a believer in both the rationality of the English common law and in its connection with custom. He was one of the Worthies of Devon of the biographer John Prince (d.1723).