Researching John Saunders

Born in Alphington, Devon, he was educated at Exeter University. He was a lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Geoffrey Rice wrote of him:

John Saunders was an only child, and books were his best companions from an early age. He also displayed artistic ability with pen and ink drawing, having something of a gift for cartoons and caricature. At school at Mount Radford in Exeter he showed particular aptitude for languages, literature and history. One of the masters who noticed his potential, Theodore Vine, became a lifelong friend. John Saunders was too shy to make friends easily, but all his life he was a faithful correspondent, sustaining his friendships over long distances and periods of time. ... John Saunders died on 25 November 1972, shortly after his return to New Zealand. Saunders's reputation as an outstanding university teacher is well attested from many sources, and generations of Canterbury graduates remember him with affection and admiration.

His main works (sometimes signed J. J. Saunders) include:

* A History of Medieval Islam (1961)* Aspects of the Crusades (1962)* The Muslim World on the Eve of Europe's Expansion (1966)* The History of the Mongol Conquests (1971)* Muslims and Mongols: Essays on Medieval Asia (1977)

Born to landed gentry in Princess Anne County, Virginia, Thirteen Colonies, North America, during the American Revolutionary War he remained loyal to Britain. In 1764 in Princess Anne County, Virginia, USA (present day Virginia Beach), John Saunders built Pembroke Manor. The Manor still stands today and is in private use. In Fall 1775 Saunders, under the direction of Colonel Jacob Ellegood and Royal Governor Dunmore, joined the Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment. The QOLVR was to aid in the number of Crown Forces assembling in Tidewater Virginia to help thwart the tide of Rebels from Virginia and North Carolina. In December 1775 (present day Chesapeake, Virginia) the Battle of Great Bridge resulted in a defeat for Crown Forces, but it was not until the Summer of 1776 that the Crown Forces including members of the QOLVR moved North and were assimilated into the Queen's Rangers. At the outbreak of the war, Saunders raised a troop of Dragoons at his own expense. Merged into the Queen's Rangers, he rose to the rank of Captain and served under John Graves Simcoe. In 1782, Saunders went to England to study law and entered the Middle Temple. In 1787, he was called to the English Bar and in 1790 was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick.

Making his home in Fredericton (in present day New Brunswick, Canada), in 1790 he married Arianna Chalmers (1768–1845), the daughter of the wealthy Loyalist, Lt. Col. James Chalmers (1727–1806). Like other soldiers of the Queen's Rangers, Saunders was entitled to Crown grants of land in the Queensbury / Southampton, New Brunswick area, a then unsettled forestry about west of Fredericton on the Saint John River. While enlisted men received land parcels with restrictive covenants of between to, Saunders, as part of the elite and Surveyor General of the Province, was given more than without any restrictions. At Pokiok, he built an estate known as the Barony, a symbol of his aristocratic status.

John Saunders was appointed to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick and on May 3, 1793 was appointed the province's first Provincial Treasurer and Surveyor General. In 1822, Saunders was elevated to Chief Justice of New Brunswick, a position he held for the rest of his life.

John Saunders died in 1834 at Fredericton and was buried in the city's Old Burying Grounds.

Saunders was called to the bar in 1972 and acted as a prosecutor for the Department of Health and Social Security throughout the 1980s. He was a Recorder between 1990–2004 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1991.

In 2004, Saunders was appointed a full-time circuit judge as well as taking the honorary appointment of Recorder of Birmingham (the most senior judge at Birmingham Crown Court) and in April 2007 was appointed to the High Court bench and received the customary knighthood.

Saunders was the son of Thomas Saunders of Woolstone in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) and his wife, Jane daughter of Thomas Cordery of Chute in Wiltshire. He matriculated at University College, Oxford on 22 May 1601 aged 11 and was awarded BA on 28 January 1608. He was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1616 and became Recorder of Reading, Berkshire. In 1621, he was elected Member of Parliament for Reading. He was re-elected MP for Reading in 1624, 1625, 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. Saunders died in 1638 at the age of about 48.

Saunders married Margaret Evelyn, daughter of John Evelyn of Godstone, Surrey. They had five daughters and one son, Thomas, who was later MP for Wallingford.