Daines Barrington
| Daines Barrington | |
|---|---|
Engraving from a 1770 painting
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| Born | 1727 |
| Died | 14 March 1800 |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Known for | Correspondence with Gilbert White |
Daines Barrington, FRS, FSA (1727/28 – 14 March 1800) was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist.
Barrington was the fourth son of John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington. He matriculated at The Queen's College, Oxford in 1745, but never graduated. In the same year he was admitted to the Inner Temple, and was called to the bar in 1750.
He subsequently held various legal offices, including marshal of the High Court of Admiralty, 1751-3; a judge of Great Sessions for North Wales (Anglesey, Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire) from 1757; Recorder of Bristol and King's Counsel from 1764; and second justice of Chester from 1778. Though considered by some (including Jeremy Bentham) to be an indifferent judge, his Observations on the Statutes, chiefly the more ancient, from Magna Charta to 21st James I (1766), had a high reputation among historians and constitutional antiquaries, and ran through five editions down to 1796. He resigned all his legal offices in 1785, retaining only that of Commissary General of the stores at Gibraltar, which continued to provide him with a substantial income until his death.
In 1773 Barrington published an edition of Orosius, with King Alfred's Saxon version, and an English translation with original notes. His Tracts on the Probability of reaching the North Pole (1775) were written in consequence of the northern voyage of discovery undertaken by Captain Constantine John Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave (1744–1792).
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