Habeas Corpus Act of the Restoration

About the Author

The initiator of the legislation was Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton (Lord St. John), who was first granted permission to introduce a bill in April 1668. Lord St. John (1631–1699) began his parliamentary career as a supporter of Charles II, but during the 1670s moved to the ranks of the opposition. He participated in various important parliamentary committees, most notably investigating the conduct of Thomas Osborne, known as the Earl of Danby, who was impeached on charges of high treason for negotiating with France on matters of peace and war without the knowledge of the Privy Council. He also participated in an inquiry concerning the “Popish plot,” a supposed (but fictitious) Catholic conspiracy to murder Charles II.

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, a prominent Whig, had significant input into the bill, although the extent of his role has been called into question in recent years. Shaftesbury (1621–1683) had a rich and varied career and became one of the most influential politicians of his generation. At the beginning of the English Civil War in 1641, he supported the Royalist cause but defected to the Parliamentarians in 1644. Never completely supportive of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (the period after the Civil War during which England was ruled by a Lord Protector), by 1660 his political sentiments placed him on the commission to recall Charles II to the throne. During the 1670s his previously tolerant position toward Catholics hardened, and this attitude placed him at odds with the Crown. His vehement attacks against the administration for what he perceived as tolerance to Catholics led to his imprisonment in 1677. He was released in 1678 and continued to play a leading role in Whig circles.

Significant alterations and additions to the bill were made during its final passage through Parliament, and the work of Frances North, 1st Baron Guilford, relating to the six amendments made by the House of Lords are worthy of particular note. Lord North and the Earl of Shaftesbury had clashed on the issue of the impeachment of Thomas Osborne, Lord Danby. The Earl of Shaftesbury had long been in opposition to Danby's strict interpretation of penal laws against Catholics and what he suspected was his support for absolute monarchy. In some sense, the act was therefore a remarkable compromise between two men who had long been fiercely opposed to each other. Lord North (1637–1685) had a long career as a judge, having been called to the bar in 1661. A prodigious early legal career culminated in his appointment as solicitor-general in 1671, from which point his focus turned to politics. In 1673 he became attorney-general and in 1675 lord chief justice. In 1679 he became a member of the Privy Council, a role that further entangled him in political affairs. His support and protection of the royal prerogative helped him gain the position of lord keeper of the great seal in 1682, which put him in charge of the Court of Chancery.