Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Reeves, John (1752?-1829)

by Gordon Goodwin

REEVES, JOHN (1752?–1829), king's printer, born in 1752 or 1753, was son of John Reeves of St. Martin-in-the Fields, London. He was educated on the foundation at Eton, but failing in his expectation of a fellowship at King's College, Cambridge, he matriculated on 31 Oct. 1771 at Merton College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1775. In 1778 he became fellow of Queen's College, and proceeded M.A. He was called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1779, and was elected a bencher in 1824 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886, iii. 1185). In 1780 he was appointed a commissioner of bankruptcy. In 1791, upon a court of judicature being instituted at Newfoundland, Reeves was made chief justice, the appointment being for a year; he was again chosen in 1792. Owing to the antagonism of the merchants to the courts, the post was one of much difficulty, but Reeves by his ‘firmness, courtesy, and resolute impartiality, finally triumphed over all opposition.’ Upon his return to England in the autumn of 1792, he found the public mind much agitated by the French revolution. On his initiative an ‘Association for preserving Liberty and Property against Levellers and Republicans’ was organised; he became chairman on 20 Nov., and branch associations were subsequently formed in London and the provinces (Gent. Mag. 1793, pt. i. p. 48). Under the auspices of the association pamphlets in defence of the constitution were circulated among the people. In 1793 Reeves gave voluminous evidence before the House of Commons' committee on Newfoundland, which was printed in the parliamentary bluebook and also separately. For many years Reeves was superintendent of aliens. He was also law clerk to the board of trade, and from 1800 till his death one of the treasurers for the Literary Fund. In 1800 Pitt, who entertained a high opinion of his abilities, appointed him to the office of king's printer, in conjunction with Messrs. Eyre & Strahan.

Reeves died unmarried in Parliament Place, Westminster, on 7 Aug. 1829, and was buried on the 17th in the Temple Church. His parsimonious habits enabled him to amass considerable wealth. To distinguished classical attainments he added a knowledge of Hebrew, while his legal acquirements were both extensive and accurate. In 1789 he was elected fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and in 1790 fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1783 Reeves issued the first volume of his ‘History of the English Law, from the time of the Saxons to the end of the reign of Edward I,’ 4to. A second volume, bringing the work to the end of Henry VII, was published in 1784, and in 1787 appeared a second edition of the book in four vols. 8vo, with considerable additions, and a continuation to the end of Philip and Mary; a third edition, also in four 8vo vols., being published in 1814. A fifth volume, containing the reign of Elizabeth, was issued in 1829, 8vo, together with an index to the whole work. Reeves's object in writing the book was to furnish the student with a guide to ‘Coke upon Littleton,’ to which work it may be considered as an introduction, as incorporated into the work is the whole of ‘Glanville’ and all the most valuable part of ‘Bracton.’ A new edition by W. F. Finlason was published in 1869, 3 vols. 8vo.

In 1795 Reeves published an anonymous pamphlet, entitled ‘Thoughts on the English Government, addressed to the quiet good sense of the People of England in a series of Letters: Letter I,’ 8vo. In this he maintained that the government and administration, with a few exceptions, rested ‘wholly and solely on the king,’ and that ‘those two adjuncts of Parliament and Juries are subsidiary and occasional.’ Irritated by this disparagement, the House of Commons appointed a committee to inquire into the matter. On their report that the pamphlet was written by Reeves, the attorney-general was ordered to prosecute him for a libel, and the information was tried on 20 May 1796. The jury considered the pamphlet a very improper publication, but, being of opinion that his motives were not such as laid in the information, they found him not guilty. Reeves, however, was not to be deterred by this prosecution. In 1799 he published, still anonymously, ‘Letter the Second,’ and in 1800 ‘Letter the Third’ and ‘Letter the Fourth.’ A full account of the controversy is given in the ‘Monthly Review’ for 1795 and 1800 (xviii. 443, xxxii. 81).

Reeves's other works are:

1. ‘An Enquiry into the Nature of Property and Estates as defined by the Laws of England,’ 8vo, London, 1779.
2. ‘A Chart of Penal Laws, exhibiting by Lines and Colours an Historical View of Crimes and Punishments,’ 1779, engraved on two sheets.
3. ‘Legal Considerations on the Regency, as far as regards Ireland,’ 8vo, London, 1789.
4. ‘A History of the Law of Shipping and Navigation,’ 8vo, London, 1792 (2nd edit. 1807).
5. ‘History of the Government of the Island of Newfoundland, with an Appendix containing the Acts of Parliament made respecting the Trade and Fishery,’ 8vo, 1793.
6. ‘The Male-contents: a Letter to Francis Plowden, Esq.,’ 8vo, London, 1794.
7. ‘The Grounds of Aldermen Wilkes and Boydell's profound Petition for Peace examined and refuted,’ 8vo, London, 1795, an anonymous pamphlet assumed to be by Reeves.
8. ‘A Collation of the Hebrew and Greek Texts of the Psalms,’ 8vo, 1800.
9. ‘Considerations on the Coronation Oath to maintain the Protestant Reformed Religion and the Settlement of the Church of England,’ 8vo, 1800 (2nd edit. 1801).
10. ‘The Case of Conscience solved,’ 8vo, 1801.
11. ‘A Proposal of a Bible Society for distributing Bibles on a new Plan,’ 8vo, 1805.
12. ‘Observations on what is called the Catholic Bible,’ 8vo, 1807.
13. ‘Two Tracts shewing that Americans born before the Independence are by the Laws of England not Aliens,’ 8vo, 1814 and 1816, anonymous, but known to be by Reeves.

In his capacity of king's printer, Reeves published several editions of the Bible and Prayer Book, such as ‘The Book of Common Prayer, with Preface and Notes,’ 8vo, 1801 (12mo, 1807); ‘The New Testament in Greek,’ 8vo, 1803, and ‘Psalterium Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Hebraicum,’ 12mo, 1804. A finely printed edition of the Bible was issued by him in nine quarto volumes; five of these consisted of notes, and the text of the Bible was sold separately.

His portrait has been engraved after a picture by Drummond.

[Gent. Mag. 1829, pt. ii. pp. 468–71, 482; Allibone's Dict. of Authors, ii. 1764; Mathias's Pursuits of Literature, 14th edit. 1808, pp. 262, 267; Prowse's Hist. of Newfoundland (with portrait).]

G. G.

Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.232
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line

Page	Col.	Line
415	i	18-17 f.e.	Reeves, John (1752?-1829): for In 1778 he became . . . . proceeded M.A. read On 11 Nov. 1775 he was elected Michel scholar of Queen's College, and on 8 Oct. 1777 he proceeded M.A.