St. George Tucker
| St. George Tucker | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin.
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia | |
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In office February 4, 1819 – June 30, 1825 |
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| Appointed by | James Monroe |
| Preceded by | new seat |
| Succeeded by | George Hay |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia | |
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In office January 19, 1813 – February 4, 1819 |
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| Appointed by | James Madison |
| Preceded by | John Tyler, Sr. |
| Succeeded by | seat abolished |
| Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court | |
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In office April 11, 1804 – April 2, 1811 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 10, 1752 Bermuda |
| Died | November 10, 1827 (aged 75) Warminster, Virginia |
| Spouse(s) | Frances (Bland) Randolph, Leila Skipwith Carter |
| Alma mater | College of William and Mary |
| Occupation | Lawyer, professor, judge |
| Signature |  |
St. George Tucker (July 10, 1752 – November 10, 1827), born in Bermuda, was a lawyer and, after the American Revolution, a professor of law at the College of William and Mary. He notably increased the requirements for a law degree at the college, as he believed lawyers needed deep educations. He served as a judge of the General Court of Virginia and later on the Court of Appeals.
Following the American Revolutionary War, Tucker supported the gradual emancipation of slaves, which he proposed to the state legislature in a pamphlet published in 1796. He wrote an American edition of Blackstone's "Commentaries" that became a valuable reference work for many American lawyers and law students in the early 19th century. President James Madison in 1813 appointed Tucker as the United States District Court judge for Virginia. Many of his descendants were notable lawyers, professors and politicians.
Tucker was born near Port Royal, Bermuda, to English colonists Anne Butterfield (?-1797) and Henry Tucker (1713–1787). His father was the great-grandson of George Tucker, who emigrated to Bermuda from England in 1662. The Tuckers were well-regarded in Port Royal. St. George's older brother Thomas Tudor Tucker migrated to Virginia in the 1760s after completing medical school in Scotland, and settled in South Carolina before the American Revolutionary War. George Tucker, a politician and author, was a relative of theirs. The name St. George had been in the family since his great-great-grandfather George Tucker married Frances St. George.
As a young man of 19, Tucker moved to the colony of Virginia in 1772 to study law under George Wythe.) Upon arriving in Williamsburg, Tucker entered the College of William & Mary, where he was a member of the F.H.C. Society. After six months at the College, Tucker took private law lessons from Wythe. Tucker passed the bar on April 4, 1774, on the verge of the American Revolutionary War.
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