Stephen Roche (Attorney-General)

Last updated

Stephen Roche (died after 1444) was an Irish Crown official and Law Officer. He held office as Attorney-General for Ireland and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.

He is first heard of as an official in the Irish Chancery in the early 1420s. In 1423 he was Chief Engrosser (copier) of the Exchequer of Ireland. [1] His duties as Engrosser were onerous enough for him to require the appointment of a deputy, Alexander White. [1] He visited England in the same year. [1] In 1425 he was appointed to the senior position of Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper, with the same fee as his predecessor, John Passavant, i.e. 100 shillings a year, plus "certain arrears". [2] He was superseded in 1427 but held office again from 1428-1430. He petitioned the Council for compensation for his "heavy labour" on royal business, which had required numerous journeys to 12 counties of Leinster and Munster at his own expense, "to his great impoverishment". The petition was granted and he was awarded 10 marks. He had made a similar petition in 1426. [3] He also complained that his predecessor John Passavant on leaving office had failed to give a full account of the amount owing to the office. In 1434 he acted as attorney to Thomas Yong, the Prior of Mullingar, jointly with John Cornwalsh, the future Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. [4]

In 1441 he was appointed Attorney General, or King's Attorney as the office was then generally known. He was also a member of the Privy Council: this was a sign of the regard in which he was held by the Crown, as the Attorney General at the time did not automatically have a seat on the Council. He attended the meeting of the Great Council of Ireland which was held at Naas, County Kildare in 1441. [5] The Council authorised him to go to England to lay the Irish Government's grievances about the misrule of Ireland before King Henry VI and his Council. [5] An itemised list of these grievances survives: they include the uncertain legal status of Englishmen born in Ireland, the utter inadequacy of the Irish revenue and customs, and the failure of the towns of Cork and Limerick to pay the rents due on their fee farm grants. [5]

He served as Attorney General until 1444, when his place was taken by William Sutton.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Patent Roll 2 Henry VI
  2. ↑ Patent Roll 3 Henry VI
  3. ↑ Close Roll 5 Henry VI
  4. ↑ Patent Roll 13 Henry VI
  5. 1 2 3 Otway-Ruthven p.371

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attorney-General for Ireland</span> Senior legal officer in Ireland prior to 1921

The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the duties of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General for Ireland were taken over by the Attorney General of Ireland. The office of Solicitor-General for Ireland was abolished at the same time for reasons of economy. This led to repeated complaints from the first Attorney General of Ireland, Hugh Kennedy, about the "immense volume of work" which he was now forced to deal with single-handedly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Wogan</span> Irish cleric and judge, Lord Chancellor of Ireland

Richard Wogan was an Irish judge and cleric who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and also served as a soldier.

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.

Christopher Bernevall, or Barnewall (1370–1446) was an Irish politician and judge of the fifteenth century, who held the offices of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was deeply involved in the political controversies of his time, and was a leading opponent of the powerful Anglo-Irish magnate James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. His elder son Nicholas also held office as Lord Chief Justice, and his younger son Robert was created the first Baron Trimleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas de Thelwall</span>

Thomas de Thelwall was an English judge and Crown official who spent part of his career in Ireland, where he held office as Master of the Rolls in Ireland and Clerk to the Privy Council of Ireland. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1377–78.

Robert Sutton was an Irish judge and Crown official. During a career which lasted almost 60 years he served the English Crown in a variety of offices, notably as Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, and Deputy Treasurer of Ireland. A warrant dated 1423 praised him for his "long and laudable" service to the Crown.

Robert de Emeldon, or Embleton was an English-born Crown official and judge who spent much of his career in Ireland. He held several important public offices, including Attorney-General for Ireland, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He was a turbulent and violent man, who was guilty of at least one homicide, was imprisoned for a number of serious crimes including rape and manslaughter, and had a reputation for corruption: but he was a royal favourite of King Edward III and was thus able to survive his temporary disgrace in the early 1350s.

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.

Stephen de Bray was an Irish judge, who was notable for his lengthy tenure as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

William Chevir, or Chevyr was an Irish politician and judge, whose career was marked by accusations of oppression and corruption.

Giles Thorndon was a senior official of the English Crown in the fifteenth century, who was noted for his long and loyal service to the House of Lancaster and for his troubled and unsuccessful career as Lord Treasurer of Ireland.

Robert Dyke, Dyck or Dyche was an English-born cleric and judge who held high office in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was appointed to the offices of Archdeacon of Dublin, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, and Master of the Rolls in Ireland, as well as holding several Church benefices.

Edward Somerton, or Somertoune was an Irish barrister and judge who held the offices of Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) and judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) and the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He was born in Ireland, possibly in Waterford, although he lived much of his life in Dublin. By 1426 he was a clerk in the Court of Chancery (Ireland), and was paid 26 shillings for his labours in preparing writs and enrolment of indentures,. In 1427 he is recorded in London studying law at Lincoln's Inn. He returned to Ireland and was again in the Crown service by 1435, when he was ordered to convey lands at Beaulieu, County Louth to Robert Chambre, one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). He was appointed King's Serjeant for life in 1437; he also acted as counsel for the city of Waterford, a position subsequently held by another future judge, John Gough.

John Fitzadam was an Irish judge of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century. He is notable for his very long tenure as Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas; he held the office for twenty-three years, in the reigns of three English Kings. Some years after his death, he was accused of judicial misconduct, in that he had unduly favoured one party in a lawsuit, but it is impossible now to determine the truth of the matter.

Edward Dantsey or Dauntsey was a fifteenth-century Bishop of Meath, who also held high political office in Ireland, serving as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and twice as Deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In a curious episode in 1426, he was wrongfully charged with theft, but acquitted.

John Gough, or John Gogh was an Irish barrister, judge and Crown official of the fifteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brettan</span> Irish judge and Crown official

John Brettan or Breton was an Irish judge and Crown official. His petitions to the Irish Privy Council, of which he wrote five between 1376 and 1382, and which have survived ; cast a valuable light on the disturbed condition of English-ruled Ireland in the late fourteenth century, and especially the situation in Carlow, his home town, which was the effective seat of English government in the latter half of the fourteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Toppesfeld</span>

Francis Toppesfeld was an English Crown servant who became a judge in Ireland.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.