{{distinguish, Arthur Cory Arthur Corye, or Curry (died 1597) was an Irish

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

who held office as Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) from 1594 until his death, and had a bad reputation for incompetence. In 1591 he was described as a "man learned in the law". Initially, he seems to have been regarded with some favour as a law officer: the patent appointing him Serjeant was issued free, without payment of the usual fees, since "he is one of the Queen's officers, and must take pains for her Majesty". Our second personal glimpse of him is contained in a letter from the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

to Sir

Robert Cecil Robert Cecil may refer to: * Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612), English administrator and politician, MP for Westminster, and for Hertfordshire * Robert Cecil (1670–1716), Member of Parliament for Castle Rising, and for Wootton Ba ...

after his death: the letter makes it abundantly clear that he had not, as required, "taken pains" in the Queen's service. The Council complained that Corye had been so incompetent in prosecuting cases on behalf of the

English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...

, especially in revenue and exchequer matters, that the Irish Treasury had suffered severely from his neglect of duty. As so often under the Tudor dynasty, the council's remedy was the appointment of an English lawyer to replace him. The letter notes that the Solicitor-General for Ireland, Roger Wilbraham, who was English by birth, was the only law officer who did his work competently. He was praised as one who "hath taken more care and pains than all the rest", and therefore the obvious choice for Serjeant-at-law. While the Crown often complied with such requests, Corye was replaced instead by another Irish lawyer,

Edward Loftus Sir Edward Loftus (1563–1601) was an Irish barrister, judge and soldier of the Elizabethan era. He was born in Dublin, the second son of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, and his wife Jane Purdon, daughter of James Purdon and Jane Little. H ...

, a noted legal scholar from a leading Dublin family. Wilbraham in any case was "marking time" in Ireland while waiting for a more lucrative appointment in England.

Sources

*''Fiants of Elizabeth 1'' *Hart, A. R. ''History of the King's Serjeants at law in Ireland'' Four Courts Dublin 2000 *Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' Butterworths London 1838 Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)