William Murray, Lord Mansfield (1705-- 1793) established a body of rules regarding commercial transactions that became the foundation of British commercial law.

An English Chief Justice of the King's Bench for over three decades, Scottish jurist William Murray, Lord Mansfield is noted for devising the foundational rules and regulations that established equity in the British system of business law, including rules regarding bills of exchanges, promissory notes, and bank checks. Among Murray's most lasting contributions are the creation of the marine insurance system and the concept of restitution, in which an injured party is made whole through the restoration of damaged or stolen property or its equivalent.

Born into Upper Class

Murray was born March 2, 1705, at Scone, a town in the former Scottish county of Perthshire. His father, David Murray, Fifth Viscount Stormont, was a defender of the Stuart line of succession to the English throne. As the fourth...