William Law (Latter Day Saints)

William Law (September 8, 1809 – January 19, 1892) was an important figure in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement, holding a position in the early church's First Presidency under Joseph Smith. Law was later excommunicated from the church and was the founder of the short-lived True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In this capacity, he published a single edition of the Nauvoo Expositor, the destruction of which set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to Smith's assassination.

Biography

Law was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, to Richard Law and Ann Hunter as the youngest of five children. His older brother was Wilson Law. The Law family moved to the United States around 1820, and he eventually ended up in Upper Canada. At the age of 24 he married Jane Silverthorn, who was 19 years old.

Law and his wife joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1836, through the efforts of John Taylor and Almon W. Babbitt. He led a group of Canadian saints to Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839 and in 1841, Joseph Smith chose him to be a member of the First Presidency.

William Law

William Law (1686 – 9 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, George I. Previously William Law had given his allegiance to the House of Stuart and is sometimes considered a second-generation non-juror (an earlier generation of non-jurors included Thomas Ken). Thereafter, Law first continued as a simple priest (curate) and when that too became impossible without the required oath, Law taught privately, as well as wrote extensively. His personal integrity, as well as mystic and theological writing greatly influenced the evangelical movement of his day as well as Enlightenment thinkers such as the writer Dr Samuel Johnson and the historian Edward Gibbon. Law's spiritual writings remain in print today.

Early life

Law was born at Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire in 1686. In 1705 he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge as a sizar; in 1711 he was elected fellow of his college and was ordained. He resided at Cambridge, teaching and taking occasional duty until the accession of George I, when his conscience forbade him to take the oaths of allegiance to the new government and of abjuration of the Stuarts. His Jacobitism had already been betrayed in a tripos speech. As a non-juror, he was deprived of his fellowship.

William Law (Canadian politician)

William Law (August 5, 1833 – November 21, 1901) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Yarmouth County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1886 to 1900 as a Liberal member.

He was born in Belfast, Ireland and came to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in October 1847. Two years later, Law moved to Oxford, Massachusetts; he returned to Yarmouth in 1855. In 1854, he married Mary A. Brown. His firm, William Law and Company was involved in shipping and insurance. Law also served as a justice of the peace. He married Annie T. Gilman in 1900 after the death of his first wife. He was named to the province's Legislative Council in 1901 and served until his death later that year in Yarmouth.

References

William Law (disambiguation)

William Law (1686–1761) was an English divine and theological writer.

William Law may also refer to:

William Law (cricketer)

William Law (9 April 1851 – 20 December 1892) was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played four matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1871 and 1873. He also played first-class cricket for Oxford University (1871–1874), MCC (1873–1882), Gentlemen of England (1871–1883), The Gentlemen (1873) and I Zingari (1881–1882). He played non first-class games for I Zingari (1872–1875), MCC (1874) and Harrow Wanderers (1887).

Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, Law was educated at Harrow School, where he played for the cricket eleven from 1868–70. He went up to Brasenose College, Oxford, and won his cricket blue in the four years from 1871 to 1874, captaining the team in 1874.

A right-handed batsman, he scored 501 runs in all first-class cricket at 10.65, with a top score of 39 against Cambridge University, and took 14 wickets, bowling right arm pace, at 25.21 with a best of 4 for 83 against Middlesex. He took seventeen catches in the field. His brother, George Law, played eleven games for MCC and Middlesex, while his brother in law, Herbert Hill, also played two matches for the MCC.