Henry Mitchell (c.1320-1384) was an Irish judge of the fourteenth century. He is one of the first recorded holders of the office of

Attorney General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the es ...

and was subsequently

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

and

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the s ...

.Ball, F Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.89 He was born at Killeek,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, son of John Mitchell. He is recorded as living in England in 1344, possibly studying law, as Ireland then had no law school. From 1372 to about 1376 he was Attorney General for Ireland, with a salary of £1 and 1 shilling. In 1372 he and Roger Hawkenshaw,Not to be confused with the later

Roger Hawkenshaw Roger Hawkenshaw or Hakenshawe (died 1434) was an Irish judge and Privy Councillor.Ball p.173 He was Irish people, Irish by birth. He was possibly the son, but more likely the grandson, of an earlier Roger Hawkenshaw, or Hackenshawe, a senior Eng ...

, probably his grandson, who was second justice of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) in 1416-34 the

Escheator Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

of Ireland, appeared as

expert witnesses An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

at a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

before the

Court of King's Bench (Ireland) The Court of King's Bench (of Queen's Bench when the sovereign was female, and formerly of Chief Place or Chief Pleas) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The King's Benc ...

, where Philip Overy claimed certain lands allegedly left to him by Thomas le Botiller.''Calendar of Ormond Deeds'' Published Dublin Irish Stationery Office He sat 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 ...

in the Parliament of 1375.Hart, A.R. ''A History of the King's Serjeants at law in Ireland'' Four Courts Press 2000 p.17 In the same year he and John FitzRery, the new Escheator of Ireland, were ordered to collect the King's

debts Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The de ...

.''Close Roll 48 Edward III'' He held office briefly as Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer in 1376-7 and was then transferred to the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is still ...

as its Chief Justice. His predecessor

Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston (died 1396) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, statesman and judge of the fourteenth century. He held several senior judicial offices including, for a brief period, that of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was the foun ...

, was removed from office at his own request, "unless the King or

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 execut ...

should order otherwise". Preston apparently retired due to advancing age, and was ordered to deliver to his successor all records relating to the office.Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' London Butterworths 1839 p.113 Mitchell died in 1384.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Henry People from County Dublin 1384 deaths Attorneys-General for Ireland Year of birth uncertain Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) Chief Barons of the Irish Exchequer Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas