Career
He was appointed King's Serjeant in 1374. [4] His salary was 100 shillings a year. [5] As was often the case his appointment was limited in area, in his career to Munster, County Wexford and County Kilkenny. By that time he was already a valued Crown servant, who had been entrusted in 1359 with collecting a subsidy. [2] In 1373-4 he conducted "numerous inquisitions" on behalf of the Crown, and was given the power to arrest ships, for which labour he received a fee of 10 marks (£6.66). [4] The inquisitions in question lasted for four weeks and his travels on official business required the use of eight horses. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to a three-man commission into the Crown's right of treasure trove in County Wexford, which lasted for 2 weeks; he did not receive a fee. The other two members were both serving High Court judges, John Keppock and William de Karlell, an indication of Cotterell's high standing with the Crown. [1] In 1374 he was summoned to a meeting of the Great Council to be held in England to discuss Irish affairs. [2] In 1375 he was commissioned as one of the justices for gaol delivery in Waterford city. [6]
He never became a High Court judge, but in addition to sitting in gaol delivery as required, in 1380 in his capacity as "Narrator Regis" (King's Serjeant), [4] the Privy Council of Ireland appointed him as an acting judge of assize for Munster, County Kilkenny and County Wexford. The senior Serjeant assigned to ride that circuit, John Tirel, was unable or unwilling to act "on account of the dangers of the roads" (the journey from Dublin to Carlow was notoriously dangerous, as was life in Carlow itself, due to constant attacks by the local Gaelic tribes, even though the Royal Courts sat there till 1391). [1] Cotterell received a fee of £75 for his nine months in office, and a further years' fee for performing unspecified official duties in Leinster. [4] He was in County Cork on official business in 1382. [4] He was still King's Serjeant in 1385. [4] In that year he was again required to act as an extra judge, to hear the King's Pleas in the Court of the Seneschal of the liberty of Kilkenny. [7] In addition he and John de Sotheron, during his brief tenure as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, were appointed to deal with those petitions which would normally be dealt with by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, William Tany, who was then absent in England. [7]
In 1388 he received permission to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and may have died on the journey or in Rome itself, as his name disappears from the official records thereafter. Chief Justice Tirel, for whom Cotterell had often acted as Deputy, was ordered to sit as Justice in Carlow in his place in 1389. [8] Cotterell's precise date of death is not recorded. [2]
This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Bar of Ireland.
The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still in use as a courthouse, its name.
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.
John Keppock was an Irish judge of the late fourteenth century, who held the offices of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer and Deputy Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He became a politician of some importance.
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 ĺargely by his close association in the mid-1370s with Sir William de Windsor, the embattled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
William de Karlell was an English-born judge, administrator and cleric in fourteenth-century Ireland. He held numerous benefices including Archdeacon of Meath and Rector of Youghal, and sat in the Irish House of Commons. After sitting for some years as a Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) he was removed from office, following a flood of complaints about his acts of extortion and oppression committed by himself and Chief Baron Holywood, but he was later restored to favour, and served briefly as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. He is buried in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny.
William Chevir, or Chevyr was an Irish politician and judge, whose career was marked by accusations of oppression and corruption.
Sir John de Shriggeley, whose family name is also spelt Shirggeley and Shryggeley was an Irish statesman and judge who held several important judicial offices, including Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. Although he committed two murders, he was a valued servant of the English Crown.
Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, statesman and judge of the fourteenth century. He held several senior judicial offices including, for a brief period, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the founder of the leading Anglo-Irish Preston family whose titles included Viscount Gormanston and Viscount Tara.
John Bermyngham or Bermingham was an Irish barrister and judge. He was one of the first Crown Law officers to be referred to as the King's Serjeant. He was later appointed Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, but did not take up the office.
John Tirel, or Tyrell was a prominent judge and statesman in fourteenth-century Ireland who held office as Serjeant-at-law and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
William le Petit, Petyt, or Lepetit was an Irish judge who was very briefly Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He is chiefly notable for having been pardoned for homicide.
Edmund de Clay, or del Clay was an English-born lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.
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.
Sir John Bere, whose surname was also spelt Beere or Bare, was an Irish politician, Crown official, barrister and part-time judge of the early seventeenth century. He held office as King's Serjeant, and sat in the Irish House of Commons in the Parliament of 1613–15.
Richard Finglas was an Irish barrister and Law Officer of the sixteenth century.
John de Ponz, also called John de Ponte, John Savan, or John of Bridgwater (c.1248–1307) was an English-born administrator, lawyer and judge in the reign of King Edward I. He served in the Royal Household in England for several years before moving to Ireland, where he practised in the Royal Courts as the King's Serjeant-at-law (Ireland). He later served as a justice in eyre, and then as a justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). He was a gifted lawyer, but as a judge was accused of acting unjustly. A case he heard in Kilkenny in 1302 can be seen as a precursor of the Kilkenny Witchcraft Trials of 1324, and involved several of the main actors in the Trials.
Nicholas de Snyterby, or Snitterby was a Law Officer and judge in Ireland in the fourteenth century, who held office as King's Serjeant, Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland) and justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland).
John Gough, or John Gogh was an Irish barrister, judge and Crown official of the fifteenth century.
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.
