James Fitzwilliam

Last updated

James Fitzwilliam (died 1420) was an Irish landowner and judge who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was the ancestor of the prominent Dublin landowning family which acquired the titles Viscount FitzWilliam and Earl of Tyrconnell. [1]

He was the son of Hugh Fitzwilliam. The Fitzwilliam family are recorded in Dublin from about 1210. By the time of James' birth, they were already considerable landowners in Dublin, with their estates centred on Dundrum and Swords. [2]

Few details of his legal career survive, but it is known that he was Chief Baron by 1413 and was superseded in 1417. [1]

Family and descendants

He married, after 1390, a daughter of Sir John Cruys or Cruise (died 1407) and his wife Matilda Verdon of Clonmore (now Togher), County Meath, one of several marriages between the two families, and had at least one son, Phillip. Cruys was a distinguished diplomat and military commander and a major landowner in Dublin, who held the manors of Mount Merrion, Stillorgan and Thorncastle, which comprise roughly modern Booterstown. Merrion Castle, Sir John's principal dwelling, subsequently became the main Fitzwilliam residence, although Sir John had a son, Sir Thomas Cruys, who inherited his estates, and at his death in 1424 left two sons, Edward and Christopher. [2] Whereas Sir John was forgiven payment of the Crown rent on his estates, due to the devastation of his lands by Irish clans from County Wicklow, the Fitzwilliams were assessed at £5 and 8 shillings a year. In 1406 there were complaints that James was unlawfully intruding into the Cruys estates at Merrion and Thorncastle, and alienating property there, but he received a royal pardon. Probably, in anticipation of Cruys's death, he was attempting to assert his ownership as against the rightful heir. [3]

James died in 1420, and his lands passed to his son, Phillip, who was still a minor; [4] the family estates are said to have suffered serious depredations during his minority. He was a ward of his father's successor as Chief Baron, James Cornwalsh; [4] ironically Cornwalsh was murdered 20 years later in a private war with the Fitzwilliam family over the disputed possession of Baggotrath Castle, [4] although Philip himself was not, as far as is known, personally involved in the feud, which was carried on mainly by his cousin William Fitzwilliam and William's wife Ismay Perrers. [5]

Baggotrath Castle, c.1790 Baggotsrath Castle (Co. Dublin).jpg
Baggotrath Castle, c.1790

Philip lived mainly at Thorncastle (his cousin Edward Cruys had died by 1432, although Edward did have a brother Christopher) which he rebuilt in 1437 after it was burnt in a raid by one of the Gaelic clans of County Wicklow. [6] He received a grant from the English Crown for the necessary works, presumably because it was an important part of the city's defences. [6] During the early stages of the Wars of the Roses, he was described as a "counsellor" to King Henry VI of England. Later he changed his allegiance and sided decisively with the House of York, giving good service against King Henry and his allies. Thorncastle passed to his son and heir Stephen, who was living there in 1463. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam</span> Irish nobleman and politician

Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam, PC (Ireland), of Mount Merrion in Dublin, was an Irish nobleman and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viscount FitzWilliam</span>

Viscount FitzWilliam, of Merrion in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1629 for Thomas FitzWilliam, along with the subsidiary title Baron FitzWilliam, of Thorncastle in the County of Dublin, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son Oliver, the second Viscount. In 1661 Oliver was created Earl of Tyrconnell in the Peerage of Ireland. The earldom became extinct on his death in 1667, but he was succeeded in the barony and viscountcy by his younger brother William FitzWilliam, the third Viscount. William's grandson Richard, the fifth Viscount, represented Fowey in the British Parliament. His son Richard, the sixth Viscount, was a member of both the Irish and English Privy Councils. The seventh Viscount was a benefactor and musical antiquarian. The titles became extinct on the death of the ninth Viscount in 1833.

Alexander Plunket was an Irish statesman and judge of the fifteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer</span> Senior judge who oversaw the Court of Exchequer in Ireland

The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Irish Court of Exchequer. This was a mirror of the equivalent court in England, and was one of the four courts which sat in the building in Dublin which is still called The Four Courts.

Sir Laurence Merbury was an English-born statesman in Ireland who held the office of Treasurer of Ireland and was also Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

James Cornwalsh was an Irish judge who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was a political figure of considerable importance in fifteenth-century Ireland, and a supporter of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was murdered as a result of a feud over the possession of Baggotrath Castle, near Dublin.

Sir John Cornwalsh, or Cornwalysch was an Irish judge who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. His tenure was notable for the fact that he succeeded his father as Chief Baron, and for his long struggle to retain the office in defiance of a rival claimant, Michael Gryffin. He is also remembered as the builder of Dardistown Castle in County Meath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baggotrath Castle</span> Former castle near Baggot Street, Dublin, Ireland

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merrion Castle</span> Demolished castle in Dublin, Ireland

Merrion Castle was a castle situated about 300m south of the present-day Merrion Gates, to the south of Dublin city centre. Built in the early fourteenth century, it was from the sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century the principal seat of the Fitzwilliam family, who acquired the title Viscount Fitzwilliam. After the Fitzwiliams moved to Mount Merrion House in about 1710 the castle fell into ruin, and it was demolished in 1780, though there were remains visible as late as 1837. No trace of Merrion Castle survives today. It was located opposite Merrion Gates, on the site of St. Mary's Home and School for the Blind. Its location, and the modern site of St.Mary's, can be seen on historical maps, including the six-inch (1829-1841) Ordnance Survey of Ireland maps.

Thomas FitzWilliam, 1st Viscount Fitzwilliam (1581–1650) was an Irish nobleman of the Stuart age. He was born to wealth and privilege, and acquired a peerage, but due to his loyalty to the English Crown, he suffered considerable hardship during the English Civil War, and died in poverty.

Robert de Holywood was an Irish judge and landowner who held the office of Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was the ancestor of the Holywood family of Artane Castle, and of the St. Lawrence family, Earls of Howth. He was a substantial landowner with property in Dublin, Meath and Louth. He became extremely unpopular, and was removed from office after numerous complaints of "oppression and extortion" were made against him. These were apparently inspired by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Richard Sydgrave or Segrave was an Irish judge who held office as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and served as deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His family became among the foremost landowners in County Meath, and also held lands at Newry and at Carlingford, County Louth.

James Uriell was an Irish landowner and judge who held office very briefly as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer.

The Burnell family were a Dublin family who were prominent in Irish public life and in the arts from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. They acquired substantial estates in County Dublin, and married into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. They produced several judges and politicians, a leading playwright, and one of the first female Irish poets. They were staunch Roman Catholics, who opposed the Penal Laws, and supported the Irish Confederacy in the 1640s. They forfeited most of their lands after the failure of the Confederate cause, and never recovered them.

Sir William FitzWilliam, of Windsor, Berkshire, was an Irish courtier and Member of Parliament in England. He was Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Edward VI of England; Deputy Chancellor of Ireland; Lieutenant of Windsor Castle; Keeper of Windsor Great Park and Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Talbot (died 1487)</span>

Thomas Talbot was a wealthy landowner and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was the head of the prominent Talbot family of Malahide Castle. His descendants acquired the title Baron Talbot de Malahide, and he himself was recognised by the Crown as Lord of Malahide, although this was not a hereditary title. He was also Admiral of the Port of Malahide. By the time of his death he held lands in four counties and was one of the principal landowners in the Pale. After his death, there was a lawsuit between his widow Elizabeth and a Talbot relative, James, over possession of some of his properties.

Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket (c.1407–1471) was a leading Irish lawyer and judge of the fifteenth century who held office as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was an ancestor of the Duke of Wellington in the female line. His second marriage to the heiress Marian Cruise inspired the ballad The Song of Mary Cruys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard FitzJohn</span> 13th century English nobleman

Richard FitzJohn was an English nobleman who fought in Wales and Gascony and served as a judge in Ireland.

Sir William le Deveneys was a Crown administrator and judge in late thirteenth and early fourteenth century Ireland, who served very briefly as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

Sir John Cruys or Cruise was a prominent Irish military commander, diplomat and judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He was one of the most substantial landowners in County Dublin and County Meath and built Merrion Castle near Dublin City in the 1360s. His marriage to the heiress of the powerful Verdon family of Clonmore brought him in addition substantial lands in County Louth. He sat in the Irish Parliament and was a member of the King's Council. He was a highly regarded public servant, but also a determined and acquisitive man of business, who fought a ten-year battle to establish his wife's right to her inheritance.

References

  1. 1 2 Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1 p. 173
  2. 1 2 Ball, F. Elrington History of the Parishes of Dublin Alexander Thom and Co. Dublin 1903 Vol. 2 pp. 1–7
  3. Patent Roll 6 Henry IV
  4. 1 2 3 Blacker, Rev. Beaver Henry Brief Sketches of the Parishes of Booterstown and Donnybrook George Herbert Dublin 1860 p.339
  5. Ball 1926 p.100
  6. 1 2 3 Kimber, Edward "Peerage of Ireland" London 1768 Vol. 2 p.36