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R v Dudley and Stephens: Degeneration, the Christian Mindset and Judicial Reasoning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 December 2019

Malcolm Woolrich
Malcolm Woolrich*
Affiliation:
Wadhurst Chaplain, Melbourne Grammar School
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Abstract

This article examines how Lord Coleridge's Victorian experiences and Christian mindset played a prominent and persuasive role in the formulation of his judgment in R v Dudley and Stephens. Notwithstanding efforts to act impartially and objectively, we are all beholden, often unconsciously, to the biases and beliefs permeating the society in which we live. Coleridge was no exception, being a composite of influences: family and educational backgrounds, religious beliefs, personal encounters and societal norms. These prejudices sharpen into focus with the benefit of distant hindsight. An associated challenge is the present difficulty faced when interpreting old judgments in which allusions are made to concepts that no longer resonate in the modern world. Finally, we are left to ponder our own predicament: what are the biases that present-day jurists unconsciously possess, how do they influence the formulation of judgments and how will they be understood in a future age?

Keywords

murderjudicial reasoningVictorian religion
Type
Articles
Information
Ecclesiastical Law Journal , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 15 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical Law Society 2019

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References

1 (1884) 14 QBD 273.

2 Mallin, M, ‘In warm blood: some historical and procedural aspects of Regina v. Dudley and Stephens’, (1967) 34:2University of Chicago Law Review 387–407Google Scholar.

3 Boyer, A, ‘Crime, cannibalism and Joseph Conrad: the influence of Regina v. Dudley and Stephens on Lord Jim’, (1986) 20 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 9–34Google Scholar.

4 A meticulous resource illustrating the connections between Victorians who were members of the Canterbury Association has been prepared by M Blain, ‘The Canterbury Association (1848–1852): a study of its members’ connections’, 2007, <http://anglicanhistory.org/nz/blain_canterbury2007.pdf>, accessed 1 December 2019.

5 Clarence and Richmond Examiner, 6 October 1885, p 2.

6 Ibid.

7 HC Deb 2 May 1866, vol 183, cols 284–330. Coleridge's speech commences at col 317.

8 Ibid, cols 317–318.

9 Ibid, cols 318–320.

10 (1883) 15 Cox CC 217.

11 Ibid, at para 231.

12 The Church of Ireland archbishop produced a chronology, based upon Old Testament genealogical lists, which established the date of creation as the evening of 23 October 4004 bc.

13 Darwin, C, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2 vols (London, 1871), vol 2, p 203Google Scholar, quoted in Wilson, A, Charles Darwin: Victorian myth maker (London, 2017)Google Scholar.

14 Wilson, Charles Darwin, p 311.

15 Lankester, Edwin. Degeneration: a chapter in Darwinism (London, 1880)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16 Ibid, p 32.

17 Ibid, p 60, emphasis in original.

18 British Library, Add MS 44792, fol 24.

19 Coleridge, with his Etonian education, was no stranger to the classics, although at school that exposure was limited and repetitious. In response to Lord Clarendon's Royal Commission regarding the great schools of England, he complained that ‘we never ceased doing Homer, Virgil and Horace’ (Lord Clarendon, Report of Her Majesty's commissioners appointed to inquire into the revenues and management of certain colleges and schools, with the studies pursued and instruction given therein, with an appendix and evidence, 4 vols (London, 1864)).

20 All Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (1989) and are used by permission of the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.

21 Witherington, B, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians Volume II: a socio-rhetorical commentary on 1–2 Peter (Downers Grove, IL, 2007), p 155Google Scholar.

22 Ibid.

23 The Times, 4 November 1884, p 3, col 6.

24 R v Dudley and Stephens.

25 The Times, 4 November 1884, p 3, col 6.

26 R v Dudley and Stephens.

27 Milton, J, Paradise Lost, ed Leonard, John (London, 2000)Google Scholar. All references to the poem are given in the text, in the form IV, 358–392.

28 Milton, Paradise Lost, p 344, notes 393–394.

29 R v Dudley and Stephens.