William Adams

William Adams (1772–1851) was an English lawyer most notable for his part in negotiating settlements with the United States in the 1814/1815 period. Biography Adams was the youngest son of Patience Thomas Adams, filazer of the court of King's Bench, and was born at 39 Hatton Garden in Holborn, London, 13 January 1772. By his father's side he was connected with an old Essex family, and his mother was of the family of William of Wykeham. He was educated at Tonbridge School, and in 1788 entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow. At the age of twenty-five he began to attend the courts at Doctors' Commons. In 1799 he took the degree of LL.D., and in November of the same year he was admitted into the College of Advocates. Obtaining a high reputation for business capacity and mastery of legal details, he rendered valuable service on several important commissions. He served on the commission appointed in 1811 to regulate the practice of the vice-admiralty courts abroad, and on that which was occupied from 1815 till 1824 in inquiring into the duties, offices, and salaries of the courts of justice and the ecclesiastical courts of England.