James Williams

Born in Liverpool in 1851, he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford, after winning an open classical scholarship from Liverpool College. He later became a Fellow of Lincoln College, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, and All Souls' Reader in Roman Law at Oxford.

His published work shows both academic depth and wit. He is known for legal writing including The Institutes of Justinian Illustrated by English Law and The Law of the Universities, and he also wrote verse such as Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics.

He died in Oxford on November 3, 1911, after several years of declining health. Contemporary notices describe him as a respected scholar whose career was closely tied to Oxford and the study of Roman law.