Sir William Blackstone was the greatest exponent of common law we have ever had. But, strangely enough, when I was at Oxford I was told nothing about him.

His fame was so great, he was made a Judge of Court of Common Pleas. But, like many learned men, he was not a great Judge. He was too technical. He was 1 of 4 Judges in an important case of those days called Scott v. Shepherd, (1773) 2 Wm Bl 892.

Shepherd threw a lighted squib, made of gunpowder, from the street into the market-house. It fell upon the stall of Yates who sold gingerbread. Willis, who was close by, took it up and threw it across the market-house. It fell upon the stall of Ryal who also sold gingerbread. Ryal took it up and threw it across the market-house. It hit Scott. It exploded and put out one of Scott’s eyes. Scott sued Shepherd for damages of trespass. 3 out of 4 Judges awarded damages against Shepherd. Blackstone J alone dissented. He said, where injury is immediate, an action of trespass will lie; but where it is only consequential, it must be an action on the case.

He was not long on the Bench. He had studied too long and too much. He took no exercise. He hated it. He ate too much. He got fatter and fatter. He died at 57.

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In 1883 a man shot Queen Victoria and missed. He was acquitted on ground of insanity. Queen said, ‘he must have been guilty. I myself saw him fire’. I must say, I would agree – although it is quite illogical. Parliament enacted, verdict in future should be ‘guilty but insane’. On such a verdict, a Judge always ordered a man to be kept in custody until Her Majesty’s pleasure be known. That is, kept in Broadmoor.

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In my young days, Cyril Tolley was the Amateur Golf Champion of England. Fry’s, the chocolate manufacturers, without his permission put an advertisement in the newspapers. There was a caricature of Mr. Trolley hitting one of his most vigorous drives with a carton of Fry’s chocolate sticking prominently out of his pocket. Beneath it were the words:

“The caddy to Tolley said, “Oh, Sir!
Good shot, Sir, that ball see it go, Sir!
My word, how it flies,
Like a cartet of Fry’s,
They’re handy, they’re good and priced low, Sir!”’

Some of the Judges in Tolley v. J.S. Fry & Sons Ltd., [1930] 1 KB 467 thought, the advertisement was defamatory. 2 Judges thought it was not defamatory. Now suppose those 2 were right. Suppose it was not libel. Surely, in Lord Justice Greer’s own words, ‘there ought to be a legal remedy’. I suggest, there is one. It is an infringement of his right to privacy.

– Lord Denning, What Next In The Law,(Oxford University Press, 2011).