The Maritime Dicaeologie, Or, Sea-jurisdiction of England

Exton, John. The Maritime Dicaeologie; Or, Sea-Jurisdiction of England. In Three Books. The First Setting Forth the Antiquity of the Admiralty in England. The Second Proving the Ports, Havens, and Creeks of the Sea to be Within the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty. The third shewing that All Contracts Concerning Maritime Affairs are Within the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty, and There Cognoscible. London: Printed for C. Davis, 1746. xvi, 404 pp. Reprint available October 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-480-0. Cloth. $110. * First published in 1664, this book, though ostensibly descriptive, was written chiefly to maintain the jurisdiction of the Admiralty court in the new government. Beyond its political interest, it offers a detailed analysis of seventeenth-century maritime law and admiralty jurisdiction by at the time when Great Britain was emerging as a major maritime and colonial power. Exton [1600?-1668] was educated at Cambridge, earning the LL.D. in Civil Law in 1634. He was appointed President of the High Court of Admiralty by Parliament in 1649, and was reappointed by the Duke of York after the Restoration.