William Sherwood (bishop)

Last updated

William Sherwood (died 3 December 1482 at Dublin) was an English ecclesiastic. He was Bishop of Meath, and later Chancellor of Ireland.

Contents

Life

He obtained the see by papal provision in April 1460. Of his earlier life, nothing is known. He soon came into conflict with Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond, who was deputy to George, Duke of Clarence, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. The earl accused the bishop of instigating the murder of some of his followers, and in 1464 both went to England to lay their grievances before the king. Edward IV of England upheld the earl, who was supported by the Irish parliament, and acquitted him of all charges of disloyalty and treasonable relations with the Irish people. But when in 1467 he was disgraced, and succeeded by John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester. Bishop Sherwood was suspected of leading the opposition, which finally brought the earl to the scaffold.

Some years after his rival's death, Sherwood himself was appointed Lord Deputy, but his own rule was so unpopular that in 1477 he was removed from office, having governed for only two years. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1475 to 1481, when he was replaced by Walter Champfleur, Abbot of St Mary's Abbey, Dublin.

He lies buried at Newtown Abbey near Trim.

Related Research Articles

Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus, was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1619 and from 1622 raised to the peerage of Ireland as Viscount Loftus of Ely, King's County. His uncle, another Adam Loftus, was both Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Church of Ireland primate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Loftus (bishop)</span> British bishop

Adam Loftus was an English Anglican bishop who was Archbishop of Armagh, and later Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1581. He was also the first Provost of Trinity College Dublin.

The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to the end of 1800, it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects, the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare</span> Irish noble (1513–1537)

Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare, also known as Silken Thomas, was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lords Justices of Ireland</span>

The Lords Justices were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland as head of the executive branch of the Dublin Castle administration. Lords Justices were sworn in at a meeting of the Privy Council of Ireland.

James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. He was called 'The White Earl', and was esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the White Earl'. His career was marked by his long and bitter feud with the Talbot family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Jones (bishop)</span> 16th and 17th-century bishop from Ireland

Thomas Jones was Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was also Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral and Bishop of Meath. He was the patrilineal ancestor of the Viscounts Ranelagh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Ware (historian)</span> Irish historian

Sir James Ware was an Anglo-Irish historian.

John Alen was an English priest and canon lawyer, whose later years were spent in Ireland. He held office as Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and was a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. In the latter office, for a few years, he played a central role in the government of Ireland.

Sir Richard Bolton was an English lawyer and judge, who was an important figure in Irish political life in the 1630s and 1640s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Boyle (archbishop of Armagh)</span> Irish priest (c. 1609–1702)

Michael Boyle, the younger was a Church of Ireland bishop who served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1663 to 1679 and Archbishop of Armagh from 1679 to his death. He also served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the last time a bishop was appointed to that office.

The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was responsible for the safekeeping of the Chancery records such as close rolls and patent rolls. The office was created by letters patent in 1333, the first holder of the office being Edmund de Grimsby. As the Irish bureaucracy expanded, the duties of the Master of the Rolls came to be performed by subordinates and the position became a sinecure which was awarded to political allies of the Dublin Castle administration. In the nineteenth century, it became a senior judicial appointment, ranking second within the Court of Chancery behind the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The post was abolished by the Courts of Justice Act 1924, passed by the Irish Free State established in 1922.

Robert Weston was an English civil lawyer, who was Dean of the Arches and Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the time of Queen Elizabeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Cantock</span> English-born Irish bishop and judge

Thomas Cantock, Quantock or Cantok was an English-born cleric and judge in medieval Ireland, who held the offices of Bishop of Emly and Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Sir William Ryves (1570–1647) was a barrister and judge, and a member of a distinguished Dorsetshire family. He enjoyed a successful legal career in Ireland, holding office as Attorney-General for Ireland and as a justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland). For a time he acted as Deputy to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

Richard Talbot was an English-born statesman and cleric in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was a younger brother of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. He held the offices of Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was one of the leading political figures in Ireland for more than thirty years, but his career was marked by controversy and frequent conflicts with other statesmen. In particular, the Talbot brothers' quarrel with the powerful Earl of Ormonde was the main cause of the Butler–Talbot feud, which dominated Irish politics for decades, and seriously weakened the authority of the English Crown in Ireland.

Patrick Bermingham (c.1460–1532) was an Irish judge and statesman of the Tudor period who held the offices of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. He was a firm supporter of English rule in Ireland and enjoyed the confidence of Henry VIII, who regarded him as a mainstay of the Irish administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Methuen (diplomat)</span>

John Methuen (1650–1706) was an English diplomat, judge and Member of Parliament. He held office simultaneously as Lord Chancellor of Ireland and English ambassador to Portugal. In the latter role, he and his son Paul negotiated the Methuen Treaty, the achievement for which John is chiefly remembered.

John Walton was an English canon regular who became Archbishop of Dublin.

Walter Champfleur or de Champfleur was an Irish cleric and judge of the fifteenth century, who played a leading role in Irish politics.

References

The Register of St. Thomas Abbey, Dublin (R.S. London, 1889) gives the text of an agreement between Sherwood and the abbey.