{{Short description|British politician and judge (1814–73)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = Sir William Bovill | honorific_suffix = FRS | image = WilliamBovill1872.jpg | caption = Bovill in 1872 | office = Chief Justice of the Common Pleas | birth_date = {{birth date|1814|5|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Allhallows, Barking | death_date = {{death date and age|1873|11|1|1814|5|26|df=y}} | death_place = Kingston upon Thames | spouse = }}

'''Sir William Bovill''', PC, FRS (26 May 1814{{snd}}1 November 1873) was an English lawyer, politician and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas between 1866 and his death in 1873.

==Background== Bovill was born at Allhallows, Barking, a younger son of Benjamin Bovill, of Wimbledon, London.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Career== On leaving school, Bovill did not go to university but was articled to a firm of solicitors. He entered the Middle Temple and practised for a short time as a special pleader below the bar. He was called to the bar in 1841 and joined the home circuit. His special training in a solicitor's office, and its resulting connection, combined with a thorough knowledge of the details of engineering, acquired through his interest in a manufacturing firm in the east end of London, soon brought him a very extensive patent and commercial practice.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Bovill became a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1855, and on 28 March 1857 was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford. In the House of Commons, he was very zealous for legal reform, and the Partnership Law Amendment Act 1865, which he helped to pass, is always referred to as Bovill's Act. In 1866, he was appointed Solicitor General, an office which he vacated on becoming Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in succession to Sir William Erle in November of the same year.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

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==Personal life== Bovill had married, in 1844, Maria Bolton, eldest daughter of John Henry Bolton of Lee Park, Blackheath. They lived firstly in London and then moved to Worplesdon, where they made their home at Worplesdon Lodge (later renamed Worplesdon Place).

He died at Kingston upon Thames on 1 November 1873. Maria, Lady Bovill died in London 21 October 1901.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary - Maria, Lady Bovill|date=23 October 1901 |page=7 |issue=36593| }}</ref>

==Honours and arms== Bovill was knighted in 1866. In May 1867 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27bovill%27%29| title = Bovill; Sir; William (1814 - 1873)| publisher = Royal Society| accessdate = 18 December 2010}}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>

{{Infobox COA wide |escutcheon = Quarterly Argent and Sable. |crest = A bull ram quartered Sable and Or. |motto = Dex Aïe <ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Judicial Bench |date=1869}}</ref>}}

==References== {{reflist}} '''Attribution:''' *{{EB1911|wstitle=Bovill, Sir William|volume=4|page=338}}

== External links == {{Commons category|William Bovill}} *{{cite DNB|wstitle=Bovill, William|first=John Andrew|last=Hamilton|volume=6|pages=38-39}} *{{Hansard-contribs | sir-william-bovill | Sir William Bovill }} * {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices |date=1902 |publisher=the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple |location=Canterbury |page=25 |edition=1 |chapter=Bovill, Sir William}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Guildford | with = Ross Donnelly Mangles to 1858 | with2 = Guildford Onslow from 1858 | years = 1857&ndash;1866 | before = James Bell<br />Ross Donnelly Mangles | after = Richard Garth<br />Guildford Onslow }} {{s-legal}} {{succession box | before=Sir Robert Collier| title=Solicitor General | years=1866 | after=Sir John Burgess Karslake}} {{succession box | before= Sir William Erle | title=Chief Justice of the Common Pleas | years=1866&ndash;1873 | after=The Lord Coleridge}} {{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bovill, William}} Category:1814 births Category:1873 deaths Category:Chief justices of the common pleas Category:English barristers Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Guildford Category:UK MPs 1857–1859 Category:UK MPs 1859–1865 Category:UK MPs 1865–1868 Category:Solicitors general for England and Wales Category:19th-century English judges Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom