Charles Osborne, MP (1760 – 5 September 1817), was an Irish politician and judge.

Biography

He was born in County Waterford, the fifth son of

Sir William Osborne, 8th Baronet Sir William Osborne, 8th Baronet, (d. 30 September 1783) was an Irish baronet and politician. Biography The son of Sir John Osborne, 7th Baronet and his wife Editha Proby, he succeeded in the baronetcy on 11 April 1743. Osborne served as Hig ...

and his wife Elizabeth Christmas of Whitfield, daughter of

Thomas Christmas Thomas Christmas was an Irish politician. Christmas was born in Waterford, son of Richard Christmas, High Sheriff of Waterford in 1686, and Susanna Aland, daughter of Henry Aland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was MP for the ...

. He sat as a member of parliament in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

for Carysfort between 1790 and 1800. He went to school in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, and attended

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating in 1780. He entered

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1788, becoming

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1798. He was appointed a Commissioner for Revenue Appeals, and later standing counsel to the Revenue. After the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Irela ...

, which he supported, he was appointed a

Justice of the King's Bench Justice of the King's Bench, or Justice of the Queen's Bench during the reign of a female monarch, was a puisne judicial position within the Court of King's Bench, under the Chief Justice. The King's Bench was a court of common law which modern a ...

for Ireland, serving from 1802 until 1817, being styled ''The Hon Mr Justice Osborne''. His political opponents said that his appointment was entirely due to his support for the Union, and that he lacked the requisite legal ability to be fit for judicial office. Despite his successful career in the House of Commons he seems to have been a curiously obscure figure: Elrington Ball goes so far as to suggest that most barristers had never heard of him at the time of his elevation to the Bench, despite his having served as Revenue counsel since 1793. On the other hand, Ball thought that his Parliamentary career gave him a wider experience of public life than some of his judicial colleagues. In 1803 he was sent to

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

to try some of those involved in the Irish rebellion of 1803. His conduct of the trials exposed him to the scurrilous attacks of the

pamphleteer Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a polit ...

"Juverna", who was later exposed as an embittered judicial colleague of Osborne,

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...

. Johnson was tried for

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection a ...

and forced to resign from the Bench in disgrace. In 1814 Osborne was one of the judges at the trial of the publisher John Magee on a charge of seditious libel. In the course of the trial he clashed bitterly with

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, who was

defence counsel In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a s ...

. O'Connell had a poor opinion of Osborne, although it must be said that he had an equally low opinion of most of Osborne's judicial colleagues, even those who were friends of his. Osborne also sat as one of the judges in the leading

quo warranto In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...

case of ''Rex v O'Grady'' in 1816. He died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

on 5 September 1817 at his house at Temple Street, Dublin, and was buried at his local parish church, the

Old Church of St George, Hill Street Dublin The Old Church of St. George, commonly called "Little George's" in Hill Street (formerly Temple Street Lower) Parish of St. Mary, Dublin was built in 1668 by the Eccles family for their workmen and also as a chapel-of-ease to a nearby St. Mary' ...

, which was popularly known as "Little St George's". Only the tower of the church now survives. The tower of the former St George's Church, Hill Street

Marriage and issue

Charles Osborne married on 14 August 1793 his cousin Alicia Christmas (died 16 May 1847), daughter of Thomas Christmas of Whitfield, MP for

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, and had two children: * Elizabeth Osborne (died 7 February 1833), married on 1 January 1823

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Michael Creagh (died 14 September 1860), and had issue, including Major General William Creaghwww.wikisource.org: Major-General William Creagh
/ref> * William Osborne (May 1794 – 13 July 1867),

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot The 71st Regiment of Foot was a Highland regiment in the British Army, raised in 1777. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry in 1881. History ...

, married on 7 July 1831 Helen Colt, daughter of John Hamilton Colt of Gartsherrie, but died without issue

Sources

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' London John Murray 1926 *Geoghegan, Patrick M. ''King Dan: the rise of Daniel O'Connell 1775–1829'' Gill & Macmillan 2008 * Charles Mosley, editor, ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes'' (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 3031.

Notes

External links

www.thepeerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Charles 1759 births Younger sons of baronets Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 1817 deaths Justices of the Irish King's Bench Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wicklow constituencies Members of Lincoln's Inn Alumni of Trinity College Dublin