John George PC, QC (18 November 1804 – 15 December 1871) was an Irish politician and judge.

Background

George was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, the eldest son of John George (died 1837), of Dublin, a merchant (who later became a landowner in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

), by Emily Jane Fox, daughter of Richard Fox. He was educated at

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 ...

conferred on him the degrees of BA in 1823, and MA in 1826.

Legal and judicial career

George was 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 ...

at the

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns ( ir, Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí) is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environment ...

. On 16 May 1827, he was also called to the English bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, London. Having returned to Ireland, he was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

on 2 November 1844. George became a Bencher of King's Inns in 1849. He sat as one of the two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) for

(a county with which his family had an enduring link) from 1852 to 1857 and from 1859 to 1866 and served as

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 rar ...

under

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

from February to July 1859. He became a member of the

Irish Privy Council 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 executi ...

in 1866, and was appointed a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench, Ireland, in November of the same year, a post which he held until his death. As a judge, he was highly esteemed, with a reputation for impartiality, independence and efficiency. In manner, he was noted for patience and dignity.

Personal life

George married, first, in 1832, Susan Rosanna, daughter of Isaac Matthew D'Olier of Collignes,

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 ...

and Margaret Rutherford – she died in 1847; and secondly, on 10 August 1848, Mary, eldest daughter of Major Christopher L'Estrange Carleton of Market Hill,

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

and Jane Jackson, daughter of George Jackson and Maria Rutledge. He died at 45 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, on 15 December 1871 aged 67. By his first wife, he had at least three children who survived infancy: John, Richard and Emily. His widow died in 1897. George, who had inherited property in County Wexford from his father, built Cahore House, Clonevan in about 1840. It remained in the family for several generations, and still exists, though it is presently unoccupied.

Arms

References

* G. C. Boase,
George, John (1804–1871)
, rev. Sinéad Agnew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 9 December 2006 *

Walford's County Families ''Walford's County Families'' is the short title of a work, partly social register, partly " Who's Who", which was produced in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries, initially under the editorship of Edward Walford. It served as a guide or handboo ...

;Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George, John 1804 births 1871 deaths Lawyers from Dublin (city) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of Gray's Inn Solicitors-General for Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Privy Council of Ireland UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 Justices of the Irish King's Bench Irish Queen's Counsel 19th-century King's Counsel Alumni of King's Inns Politicians from Dublin (city)