“Whatever disadvantages attach to a system of unwritten law, and of these we are fully sensible, it has at least this advantage, that its elasticity enables those who administer it to adapt it to the varying conditions of society, and to the requirements and habits of the age in which we live, so as to avoid the inconsistencies and injustice which arise when the law is no longer in harmony with the wants and usages and interests of the generation to which it is immediately applied.”

— Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet

Wason v. Walter (1868), L. R. 4 Q. B. 93.

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Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet 13

Lord Chief Justice 1802–1880

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“As man does not live in a solitary state, habits and feeling develop within him which are useful for the preservation of society and the propagation of the race. Without social feelings and usages life in common would have been absolutely impossible. It is not law which has established them; they are anterior to all law.”

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Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet (1802–1880) Lord Chief Justice

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Speech to Conservative Women’s Conference (20 May 1981) https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104653
First term as Prime Minister

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Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet 13

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