Peter Warburton (judge)

Sir Peter Warburton JP (c. 1540 – 7 September 1621) was a British judge.

Arms of Sir Peter Warburton

Born to Thomas Warburton and his wife Anne, Warburton attended Staple Inn before joining Lincoln's Inn on 2 May 1562. He was called to the Bar there in February 1572, and became a Bencher in 1582. A Justice of the Peace for Chester, he was recommended as a potential Member of Parliament for that seat, but after being rejected was instead elected for Newcastle-under-Lyme, later sitting for the City of Chester in the Parliaments of 1586, 1589, and 1597. In 1593 he became a Serjeant-at-Law,^[1] and on 24 November 1600 was made a Justice of the Common Pleas.^[2]

As a Justice he was one of those who supported Sir Edward Coke's majority judgment in Dr. Bonham's Case,^[3] and he discharged his duties as "an ancient, reverend and learned judge" until his death in office on 7 September 1621.^[1]