John Atkinson, Baron Atkinson, (13 December 1844 – 13 March 1932) was an Irish politician and judge. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1905 to 1928.

Early life and career

Atkinson was born at Drogheda, County Louth, the eldest son of Edward Atkinson, a physician, of Glenwilliam Castle,

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and Skea House,

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

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, and his wife Rosetta. He was educated at the

Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

and later at Queen's College Galway, which he attended from 1858 to 1865. He won Junior Scholarships in the Science Division of the Faculty of Arts, 1858–9, 1859–60 and 1860–1. He was awarded the B.A. degree in mathematics with first-class honours in 1861, and pursued a varied postgraduate career – from initial study of the sciences (with Senior Scholarships in Mathematics, 1861–2, and Natural Philosophy, 1862–3) he moved into Law, gaining a first-class Diploma in Elementary Law in 1864. A further Senior Scholarship, this time in Law, followed, and he graduated with a first-class LL.B. in 1865. Throughout his university career, he was noted as an orator of distinction, and served as Auditor of the college's Literary and Debating Society for the 1862–63 session. Atkinson was called to the Irish Bar in 1865 and appointed a

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in 1880 at the early age of 35. He practised as a QC on the Munster Circuit. He was elected a Bencher of the King's Inns in June 1885. In 1890, he was called to the English Bar by the

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, and was elected a Bencher there in 1906. Atkinson represented the Times Newspaper before the Parnell Commission in 1888.

Political life

Atkinson was politically active throughout his career at the Bar, and in 1889 was appointed

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On ra ...

. He became

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in 1892, and later that year was appointed a Privy Councillor. In January 1893, having left the office of Attorney-General, he called a motion at a Unionist meeting in County

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declaring renewed opposition to

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. At a meeting in March of that year (1893) at Leinster Hall Atkinson declared that a breach in the Union between the

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and

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would mean an end to civil and religious liberty. In December 1893 he was selected to represent the Unionist Party in North Londonderry. His candidature was endorsed by

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...

, then leader of the House of Commons, with the words –"it is important that the loyalists of Ulster be represented by eloquent and able men". Atkinson was elected a Conservative M.P. for North Londonderry in 1895; upon his election, he was again appointed Attorney-General, an office he held for the next ten years. During this time, he was closely involved in the framing of many significant pieces of legislation, including the Irish Land Act, 1896, and the Local Government Act, 1898.

Appointed as a law lord

On 19 December 1905, he was appointed to the

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as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and life peer under the title Baron Atkinson, ''of Glenwilliam in the County of

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'', the first Irish barrister to be appointed as a Law Lord directly from his practice at the bar – Judges John Fitzgerald and Michael Morris had served on the Irish Bench for many years before their respective appointments. For the title of his life peerage, he chose Glenwilliam, after Glenwilliam Castle in

, the home of his father. Atkinson's appointment, however, was not met with universal approval by his profession. As a former member of the cabinet he was seen as a political judge, however his industry and keen sense of justice came to be seen as a valuable addition to the bench. On his appointment as a Law Lord, he withdrew from active politics, limiting his contributions on political matters in the House of Lords to the discussion of Irish matters, such as the Irish Land Bill in 1909, to which he tabled several amendments. Atkinson retired as a judge in 1928, and died at his home at 39

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on 13 March 1932. A portrait by

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hangs in the Bar Room of King's Inns,

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Arms

References

Sources

*T.C. Tobias
'Atkinson, John, Baron Atkinson (1844–1932)'
rev. Sinéad Agnew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. *Obituary, The Times, 14 March 1932. see also reply by Arthur Balfor on 15 March 1932. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, John 1844 births 1932 deaths Alumni of the University of Galway Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Law lords Solicitors-General for Ireland Attorneys-General for Ireland People from Drogheda Politicians from County Louth Irish Unionist Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (1801–1922) People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Alumni of King's Inns Peers created by Edward VII