Sir Gillery Pigott (1813 – 27 April 1875) was a British Liberal Party politician and judge.

Early life and family

Born in Oxford in 1813, Pigott was the fourth son of Paynton Pigott (later Stainsby-Conant) and Lucy, third daughter of Richard Drope Gough. He was educated in Putney at the school of Reverend William Carmalt. In 1836, he married Frances, daughter of Thomas Drake, and they had eight children: two sons and six daughters.

Legal career

Pigott launched his legal career in 1836 when he entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, and three years later he was called to the bar and entered the Oxford circuit. There, he worked with H Rodwell to serialise reports of appeals from revising barristers between 1844 and 1846. In 1854, he was made counsel to the Inland Revenue and in 1856, he became serjeant, receiving a patent of precedence the following year. From December 1857 to December 1862, he was recorder of Hereford. Pigott was made a Baron of the Court of the Exchequer on 3 October 1863, and was knighted on 1 November. The appointment was initially received with disfavour by the bar, but he became well-liked and recognised for strict impartiality and conscientiousness in his arbitration.

Political career

Pigott first launched his bid for a seat in the House of Commons in 1859, when he stood for Banbury; he retired before polling day. The next year, he was elected MP for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

– caused by his elder brother

Francis Pigott Stainsby Conant Francis Pigott Stainsby Conant (1809 – 21 January 1863) was a British Whig politician who became the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 22 October 1860 until his sudden death in 1863. Biography Francis Pigott was born at Trunkwe ...

being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man — but resigned just under three years later when he became the last baron appointed a judge of the Court of the Exchequer. During his brief period in parliament, he made a notable effort to introduce a law correcting anomalies in Jersey law.

Death

Pigott died at his home, Sherfield Hill House, near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

on 27 April 1875 from a heart attack precipitated by a fall from his horse. He was buried at the parish church at Sherfield upon Lodden the next day. His son, Arthur Gough Pigott, banned the Anglican burial service being read over the coffin, leading to a £1 fine with costs.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pigott, Gillery Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Reading Politicians from Oxford UK MPs 1859–1865 1813 births 1875 deaths People from Sherfield on Loddon