Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Manning, William Oke
MANNING, WILLIAM OKE (1809–1878), legal writer, born in 1809, was son of William Oke Manning, a London merchant, and nephew of James Manning [q. v.], serjeant-at-law. He was educated at Bristol under Dr. Lant Carpenter, who had been the colleague of his grandfather, James Manning, in the Unitarian ministry at Exeter.
After leaving school Manning entered his father's counting-house. In 1839 he published 'Commentaries on the Law of Nations.' There was then no English treatise on the subject (though there were two by Americans), and Manning's book was noticeable for its historical method, its appreciation of the combination of the ethical and customary elements in international law, as well as for the exactness of its reasoning and its artistic completeness. The book at first attracted little attention, but was gradually found useful by teachers, and was cited as an authority in the courts.
The new edition, issued in 1875, was revised and enlarged by Professor Sheldon Amos. Manning, then incapacitated by illness, wrote a preface. He also published 'Remarks upon Religious Tests at the English Universities,' 1846 (reprinted from 'Morning Chronicle'). He died, after much suffering, on 15 Nov. 1878, at 8 Gloucester Terrace, Regent's Park, aged 69.
[Obituary notice by W. B. Carpenter in Athenæum, 30 Nov. 1878; Standard, 19 Nov. 1878; Brit. Mus. Cat.]