Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, 1st earl of

Hardwicke, Philip Yorke, 1st earl of, 1690–1764, English jurist. As lord chancellor (1737–56) he did much to systematize the laws of equity and established the principle that equity must follow its precedents. An influential member of the government, he was active in suppressing the Jacobite uprising of 1745.

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