Taking Nevada

The best man at my wedding was a guy named Brian Bloodworth. We met in law school, and he was a really good guy.

Thomas Bloodworth (who may or may not be Brian’s ancestor) was not a really good guy. He was a politician. And, frankly, not a very good one. Old Thom Bloodworth was the Lord Mayor of London beginning in the year 1665. In 1666, Lord Mayor Bloodworth was awoken from his sleep and taken to the scene of a small fire, to which he declared, “a woman might piss it out,” before leaving the scene and returning to bed.

Over the next three days, 75% of London burned. In the aftermath, Bloodworth was excoriated because, as Lord Mayor, he had had the authority to tear down the neighboring properties to stop the spread of fire. And had he immediately done so, the fire would very likely have ended quickly. But he did not immediately do so. Sam Pepys reported that upon receiving the King’s authority to pull down houses without paying compensation, Bloodworth began doing so. But the effort was, by that point, inadequate.

I have always been fascinated by the concept that Bloodworth delayed pulling down houses because he was fearful of the personal financial implications of doing so. But, once indemnified by the sovereign, he proved quite willing to knock down houses (albeit too late). The ability of the sovereign to destroy property to prevent the spread of a great public peril has long been a controversial aspect of the law. Many argue, with great merit, that when a person’s property is sacrificed to preserve the public health, that the person is entitled to compensation. But the law has not yet reached that conclusion, and has instead established that there is no legal recourse against the sovereign for property destruction in immediate response to a catastrophe. The case law on the subject is replete with appeals to the good grace of the sovereign to treat the unfortunate property owner with tender equity. But, there is no legal mandate that the sovereign must so compensate.

Leadership in times of great public peril is hard. Thomas Bloodworth was found wanting. His decision to hesitate to damage property to prevent a catastrophe proved to be a catastrophe in itself. While care for private property is fundamental in our system of government and law, leaders must be willing to make difficult decisions, regardless of their personal financial stake in the matter. All the law is subordinate to the public health: Salus populi suprema lex esto.

As a side note, in the aftermath of the London Fire, an entire court system was created to adjudicate various claims for compensation and division of claims between landlords and tenants. This Fire Court adjudicated almost all issues and claims and petitions to the bench alone, except for issues of compensation for which the Fire Court generally used a jury.