OBITUARY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXV, Issue 7863, 19 May 1886, Page 5

OBITUARY.

SIR THOMAS ERSEINE MAY. The following memoir is from “ Men of the Time ” : May, Sir Thomas Erskine, K.C.8., D.C.L., born in 1815, and educated at Bedford School, under Dr Brereton, entered the public service as Assistant Librarian of the House of Commons in 1831, was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1838, was appointed Examiner of Petitions for Private Bills in 1846, Taxing-Master of the House of Commons in 1847, to the Table of the House, as Clerk-Assistant, in 1856, and Clerk of the House of Commons in 1871. His public services were rewarded by the Companionship of the Bath in 1860, and he was promoted Knight Commander in July, 1866. Sir T. E. May has written “ A Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings, and Usages of Parliament,” published in 1844, which, being acknowledged as the Parliamentary text-book, has passed through six editions, and has been translated into German and Hungarian; a pamphlet entitled " Remarks and Suggestions with a view to Facilitate the Despatch of Public Business in Parliament,” published in. 1849; another pamphlet, “On the Consolidation of the Election Laws,” in 1850; and “Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George 111., 17601860,” in 1861-3, which, commencing where the great work of Hallam concluded, continues the history of our laws and liberties to the present time. The latter work has been reprinted in the United States and translated into French and German; and a third edition, with a new supplementary chapter, was published in London in 3 vols,, 1871. Sir T. E. May’s most recent work is “ Democracy in Europe: a History,” 2 vols., 1877. In-1854 he collected and reduced to writing, for the first time, the “ Rules, Orders, and Forms of Proceedings of the House of Commons,” which were adopted and printed by command of the House. He contributed to the Penny Oyclopmdia numerous articles, relating chiefly to political economy and historical biography, and has written for the Edinburgh Review, the Law Magazine, and other reviews.