Sir Edmund Thomas Bewley (1837–1908), Irish lawyer and genealogist, born in Dublin on 11 January 1837, was son of Edward Bewley (1806–1876), licentiate of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians, Ireland, by his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Mulock of Kilnagarna, King's County (1791–1857).

Life

Entering

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Dublin, in 1855, he obtained a classical scholarship in 1857, and a first senior moderatorship and gold medal in experimental science in 1859. In 1860 he graduated with a BA and in 1863 M.A. In 1885, he gained his LL.D. In 1861 he obtained the degree of BA, ''ad eundem'', and also that of MA, with honours and first gold medal in experimental science, in the Queen's (afterwards Royal) Queen's University of Ireland. Called to the

Irish Bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

in 1862, he practised successfully for some years, and in 1882

took silk 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 a ...

. From 1884 to 1890 he was Regius Professor of Feudal and English Law at Trinity College Dublin, and in 1890 became a judge of the supreme court of judicature of Ireland, and judicial commissioner of the

Irish Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to 'inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower t ...

. Owing to declining health he retired in 1898, when he was knighted by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was elected F.S.A. on 10 January 1908, and died at Dublin on 27 June 1908. Bewley married in 1866 Anna Sophie Stewart Colles, daughter of Henry Colles, a member of the Irish bar, and his wife Elizabeth Mayne, and granddaughter of the eminent surgeon Abraham Colles, and by her had two sons and one daughter.

Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne (4 September 1837 – 22 May 1913), was an Anglo-Irish lawyer and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Background and education Born at 22 Merrion Square, Dublin, Gibson was the son of William Gibson J.P. (1808–1872 ...

, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was his brother-in-law.

Genealogical work

Bewley spent his leisure in genealogical pursuits. He was a frequent contributor to the ''Genealogist'', ''Ancestor'', and other genealogical periodicals. His most important researches were privately printed. His three books, ''The Bewleys of Cumberland'' (1902), ''The Family of Mulock'' (1905), and ''The Family of Poe'' (1906) are investigations into family history; in the monograph on the Poe family, he proved that Edgar Allan Poe was descended from a family of Powell, for generations tenant-farmers in County Cavan.

Other works

Bewley was also the author of: * ''The Law and Practice of Taxation of Costs'' (1867) * ''A Treatise on the Common Law Procedure Acts'' (1871) and joint-author of ''A Treatise on the Chancery (Ireland) Act, 1867'' (1868). The Bewleys of Cumberland, 1902; The Times, 29 June 1908; Dublin Nat, Libr. Catalogue; Irish Times, 28 June 1908.]

Arms

References

DNB references

These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bewley, Sir Edmund Thomas 1837 births 1908 deaths Irish knights Judges of the High Court of Justice in Ireland