William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield
Lord Mansfield's Rule

Lord Mansfield is frequently mentioned in modern legal settings as the originator of "Lord Mansfield's Rule", in his own words: "...the law of England is clear, that the declarations of a father or mother, cannot be admitted to bastardize the issue born after marriage." This quote comes from Mansfield's appellate decision in Goodright v Moss (1777) 2 Cowp 591, 98 ER 1257 at 592. The primary legal question in the case was not this preexisting principle, which applies only to children "born after marriage", but rather whether the child had been born before the marriage. The question was whether statements the child's parents allegedly made before their deaths could be introduced as evidence that the child had been born before their marriage and was thus illegitimate. Mansfield ruled to admit the testimony against the child's legitimacy and grant a new trial. The term "Lord Mansfield's Rule" is often used in a slightly different sense to denote the principle still applied in several jurisdictions that marriage creates a conclusive presumption of a husband's paternity of his wife's child.
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