Thomas Erskine (1750-1823) came from an eminent legal family. He was created 1st Baron Erskine in 1806, and was Lord Chancellor from 1806-1807. He was the third son of Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan; his mother, Agnes Steuart, was the daughter of the Scottish Solicitor-General, and his brother Henry became Lord Advocate for Scotland. At the age of fourteen he was sent to sea as a midshipman; meanwhile his family moved to Bath and joined the Methodist community headed by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. Erskine left the navy, and was called to the bar in 1778. He became known for his oratory and for the defence of political radicals. He successfully defended Lord George Gordon against a charge of high treason for his role in the 1780 anti-Catholic riots. He also defended Thomas Paine against a charge of seditious libel for the publication of The Rights of Man, and John Horne Tooke against a charge of treason. In 1797 he acted for the plaintiff in Boddington v. Boddington, a “criminal conversation” trial, in which a husband sued his cousin, who had run off with his wife, for damages. In his eloquent speech, Erskine argued that the case was of wider significance, since not only were the bonds of marriage that were usurped, but “the institution of society and the laws of God are held in contempt and trampled upon”. The case became a cause célèbre, particularly for the large sum of £10,000 that was awarded in damages, and a transcript of the trial was printed and sold as a pamphlet