Sir John Ross, 1st Baronet, PC (I), KC (1853–1935) was an Irish politician and judge who was the last person to hold the office of

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

Early life

He was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, on 11 December 1853. He was the eldest son of the Reverend Robert Ross DD,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Minister and, at one time, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. His mother was a Miss Christie. He was educated at the model school and at

Foyle College Foyle College is a co-educational non-denominational voluntary grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland. The school's legal name is Foyle and Londonderry College. In 1976, two local schools, Foyle College and Londonderry High School, merged und ...

, Derry, where the songwriter Percy French was one of his schoolfriends. In 1873 he entered Trinity College Dublin. He became president of the

University Philosophical Society The University Philosophical Society (UPS; ), commonly known as The Phil, is a student paper-reading and debating society in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1683 it is the oldest student, collegial and paper-reading society in th ...

in 1877 and graduated BA in the same year; in 1878 he was auditor of the

College Historical Society The College Historical Society (CHS) – popularly referred to as The Hist – is a debating society at Trinity College Dublin. It was established within the college in 1770 and was inspired by the club formed by the philosopher Edmund Bu ...

, where his contemporaries included the politician and judge Edward Carson (later Lord Carson) and James Campbell (the future Lord Glenavy, Lord Chancellor of Ireland). He graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(LL. B.)

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in 1879.

Judge

Ross had entered

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, in 1878 and was called to the Irish Bar in 1879. He became 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 ...

in 1889. He was Conservative member of the House of Commons for Londonderry City from 1892 until his defeat in 1895. In 1896 Ross was elevated to the bench as land judge in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in Ireland. When appointed, he was the youngest judge in the United Kingdom and he was the first Presbyterian judge of the High Court. Maurice Healy noted that he was as scrupulous in avoiding any suggestion of religious bias as he was in not allowing his own political views to colour his judgement. While his main training was in

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

, he was also a good criminal lawyer. Ross was sworn of the

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 executi ...

in 1902. In 1919 he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. In 1921, in succession to Sir James Campbell, Ross was appointed

. He was to be the last holder of that office, which was abolished in December 1922. Ross retired to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, but later he returned to live in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He was president of the

St John Ambulance Brigade St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

in Ireland and during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was in control of all

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

activities in southern Ireland. In 1914 he was made a Knight of Grace of the Grand Priory of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

. During the war, he was also chairman of the Irish board for the selection of candidates for commissions in the British army.

Family

In 1882 Ross married

Katherine Mary Jeffcock Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

(d. 1932), who was the only daughter of

Lieutenant-Colonel Deane Mann Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

, of Dunmoyle and Corvey Lodge,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

and his wife Mary Stobart Jeffcock. They had one son, Major Sir Ronald Deane Ross MC MP, and two daughters, Irene and May, the younger of whom predeceased her father. Ross died, of bronchial pneumonia, at his home, Dunmoyle Lodge, Sixmilecross, Co. Tyrone, on 17 August 1935, and was succeeded as the second baronet by his son.

Character

Maurice Healy Maurice Healy (3 January 1859 – 9 November 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP). As a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, he was returned to in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Gre ...

, who described most of the Irish judges of his time in his memoir ''The Old Munster Circuit'',Michael Joseph Ltd. 1939 praises Ross in the highest terms, recalling his "splendid presence", his beautiful command of the English language, and his unfailing kindness to young barristers. Like all judges he had his foibles, notably a fondness for horse racing: he was a habitué of Punchestown Racecourse, and the Bar had an unofficial understanding that no case would be listed for hearing on a Punchestown day. In this way, Healy remarks, he showed that he was very human, and that humanity was what made him a great judge.

Arms

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Sir John, 1st Baronet 1853 births 1935 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Auditors of the College Historical Society Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Irish Presbyterians Irish Unionist Party politicians Irish unionists Lord chancellors of Ireland Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Londonderry constituencies (1801–1922) Politicians from Derry (city) 19th-century King's Counsel Members of the Senate of Southern Ireland People educated at Foyle College UK MPs 1892–1895