author
1812–1866
A 19th-century English barrister who turned legal practice, travel, and history into lively, lasting books. He is especially remembered for influential works on contracts and torts, along with writings on the Knights Templar and the Temple Church.
by C. G. (Charles Greenstreet) Addison
by C. G. (Charles Greenstreet) Addison
Born in Maidstone, Kent, on April 1, 1812, Charles Greenstreet Addison became an English barrister and writer whose work ranged across law, history, and travel. He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1842, worked on the home circuit and Kent sessions, and later served as a revising barrister for Kent.
Addison wrote with unusual breadth. Early on, he published Damascus and Palmyra in 1838, drawing on travel in the Middle East. He followed it with historical studies including The History of the Knights Templars and a book on the Temple Church, works that helped keep medieval and legal history vivid for Victorian readers.
He was best known, though, for his legal textbooks. A Treatise on the Law of Contracts (1845) and Wrongs and their Remedies, a Treatise on the Law of Torts (1860) were widely read and went through several editions in Britain and the United States. Addison died on February 19, 1866.