James Stanihurst (died 1573), also spelt James Stanyhurst) was for three terms

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of 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 ...

.Centre for Neo-Latin Studies, University College Cork
/ref>
/ref> He was also the first judge to hold the position of

Recorder of Dublin Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

.A Few Arguments on the Subject of Saffron
/ref>

Life

He was the son of Nicholas Stanihurst,

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

in 1542. He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in the Parliaments of 1557, 1560, and 1568. At the opening of each session, he delivered an oration. He proved himself a supporter of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

under

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, and contrived the passing through the Commons of the '' Act of Uniformity'' passed in England the year before, in 1560, putting the question when its chief opponents were absent from the chamber. On the other hand, his friendship with Edmund Campion suggests that like many of the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

gentry he retained a certain sympathy with the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

faith. In 1570 he recommended to Parliament, in a speech which he delivered at the prorogation, a system of national education for Ireland, proposing the establishment of

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

s throughout the country. At the same time, he suggested the formation of a university in Dublin such as was inaugurated by the foundation of

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 ...

a few years later. The speech is said to have been printed. Stanyhurst's educational policy was not accepted by the government, although

Sir Henry Sidney Sir Henry Sidney (20 July 1529 – 5 May 1586), Lord Deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received ...

, to whom he was close, strongly supported it.

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

, who acted as tutor to his son Richard, was also a good friend, and acknowledged assistance from Stanihurst in writing his history of Ireland. On one occasion Stanihurst, despite outwardly professing the Protestant faith, saved Campion from arrest on the charge of being a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

by sending him to the home of the Barnewall family of Turvey House, who were staunch Catholics. He died in Dublin on 27 December 1573, aged 51. A Latin elegy by his son Richard was printed in the latter's description of Ireland, as well as in the appendix to his translation of Virgil.

Family

He married Anne Fitzsimon, daughter of Thomas Fitzsimon,

, and had five children.

Richard Stanihurst Richard Stanyhurst (1547–1618) was an Anglo-Irish alchemist, translator, poet and historian, who was born in Dublin. Life His father, James Stanyhurst, was Recorder of Dublin, and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in 1557, 1560 and 1568. ...

was their eldest son, and they left another son, Walter, who translated into English ''Innocent, de Contemptu Mundi''. His daughter Margaret married Arnold Ussher, one of the six clerks of the

Court of Chancery (Ireland) The Court of Chancery was a court which exercised equitable jurisdiction in Ireland until its abolition as part of the reform of the court system in 1877. It was the court in which the Lord Chancellor of Ireland presided. Its final sitting plac ...

, and was mother of

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ident ...

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

, and

Ambrose Ussher Ambrose Ussher (1582?–1629) was an Irish Protestant clergyman and scholar, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin and rector in the Church of Ireland, known as a biblical translator. Life Born in Dublin about 1582, he was third but second survivin ...

References

;Attribution History of County Dublin 16th-century Irish judges 1573 deaths People of Elizabethan Ireland Year of birth unknown Speakers of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) Irish MPs 1557–1558 Irish MPs 1560 Irish MPs 1569–1571 Recorders of Dublin {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub