Cannibalism and the common law : the story of the tragic last voyage of the Mignonette and the strange legal proceedings to which it gave rise

by A. W. B. Simpson

Hardcover, 1984

Status

Available

Publication

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1984.

Description

Cannibalism and the Common Law is an enthralling classic of legal history. It tells the tragic story of the yacht Mignonette, which foundered on its way from England to Australia in 1884. The killing and eating of one of the crew, Richard Parker, led to the leading case in the defence of necessity, R. v. Dudley and Stephens. It resulted in their being convicted and sentenced to death, a sentence subsequently commuted. In this tour de force Brian Simpson sets the legal proceedings in their broadest historical context, providing a detailed account of the events and characters involved and of life at sea in the time of sail. Cannibalism and the Common Law is a demonstration that legal history can be written in human terms and can be compulsive reading. This brilliant and fascinating book, a marvelous example of eareful historical detection, and first-class legal history, written by a master.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mstrust
A look at all the different ways the legal system can interpret cannibalism for survival. Simpson profiles cases of frontier cannibalism, touching briefly on the Donner Party, then more extensively on Alferd G. Packer, "The Colorado Man-Eater". Much of the book involves murder and cannibalism at
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sea, a situation known as "the custom of the sea", which was not uncommon in days when ship owners would intentionally send crews out with insufficient food simply to cut costs. Many of the chapters are devoted to the case of the Mignonette, and English ship that wrecked in 1884. The group of survivors in a small boat eventually killed the seventeen year-old cabin boy and ate him, a fact they never tried to hide upon rescue. The captain and his mate were, after a long trial that involved two district courts and multiple high court judges, convicted of the murder. It's one of the very few trials of its kind, as murder had traditionally been overlooked in cases of cannibalism at sea.

Most, but not all the cases of survival included here involve cannibalism, and Simpson provides legal information throughout. In fact, his chapters of the legal battle involved in the Mignonette began to seem like they would never end, but it does give a thorough insight as to how the court system operated at that time, and explains a little used strategy that would eventually mutate into The Court of Appeals.
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